Make You Feel My Love
by missingstars89
Summary: Caroline Forbes is a young vampire who finds her world crashing down as she says goodbye to the last bit of human life she had left: her mother. She tries to find the strength to pick up the pieces but finds herself wanting the cure. Standing at a crossroads, a familiar figure from her past reappears repeating this promise: I intend to be your last, however long it takes.
1. Chapter 1

Premise: Caroline Forbes is a young vampire who finds her world crashing down as she says goodbye to the last bit of human life she had left: her mother. She tries to find the strength to pick up the pieces once more but quickly realizes that everything is not as easy as it seems and eternity is an awfully long time making her reconsider her immortality or whether it would be better to live out a human life after acquiring the cure? As she stands at a crossroads, a familiar figure from her past reappears repeating this promise: I intend to be your last, however long it takes.

Caroline Forbes was a young bubbly but insecure cheerleader whose life was changed in an instant in a bitter attempt at revenge. Being dragged into someone else's personal war was not something Caroline ever expected in her life. Simply put, she was seen only as collateral damage. Becoming a vampire as a result was much less expected. But it happened and with the help of her good friend Stefan, she learned to pick up the pieces and adjust to her new life as a vampire. She had suffered her mother's, Liz, rejection at first but eventually Liz came to accept she was still her daughter and not some bloodthirsty monster wearing her daughter's skin. They had lived as peaceful as one could in the small town of Mystic Falls, until Caroline went away to college with her best friends Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett. Even then, Caroline did not go too far because even though she would never admit it aloud, she did not want to be too far away from her mother, the only family and proof she once lived a human life, she had left.

As Caroline zipped up her black knee-length dress, she stared absentmindedly into the floor length mirror thinking back to a conversation she had years back. "_I've never really been anywhere."_ The conversation had intrigued more her more than she had let on but she couldn't give her conversational partner the satisfaction of knowing she might have been even remotely interested in what he had to offer. It was these talks she had with this individual however, that opened up her mind and ignited her interest to explore what the world had to offer. Caroline thought back to the scrapbook she had made about all the places she would go visit and live in someday. The summer after her first year of college, she took her first trip out of the country with Bonnie and Elena and the desire she had to see more of the world was only fueled more. Every summer after that, she would take a trip with whoever would accompany her and while she enjoyed it, she longed to spend longer than a couple of weeks at these new places. Which is how she found herself studying abroad in New Zealand for her final semester of college. It was one of the best moments she had in her life and she remembered watching the sunset one day from a sandy beach and replaying a conversation in her head, _"There's a whole world out there waiting for you. Great cities and art and music; genuine beauty. And you can have all of it…" _She shook her head thinking about how much had changed since that conversation, how much had changed because of that conversation.

"Care…it's time," Elena said softly.

Caroline snapped out of her trance and wiped a tear running down her face that she had been unaware of until that moment.

"Care?" Elena asked, with the sadness evident in her voice.

"I'm almost ready just need to throw my shoes on. Wait it's cold outside. Dammit! This dress isn't going to do much for me in the cold! Why didn't I think about that sooner?" Caroline exclaimed in an exasperated tone blinking desperately to keep the tears from flooding her eyes again.

"Caroline it's okay. It's going to be okay." Elena told her reassuringly as she quickly rushed to hug her friend.

She held Caroline as she started to sob into her coat, furiously blinking back her own tears as she felt her friend cling desperately to her, almost as if she was clinging on to dear life. After a few moments, she felt Caroline loosen her grip and slowly lift her head, trying to regain her composure.

"Thanks Elena. I'm sor-" Caroline started to say when Elena interrupted.

"Don't say you're sorry Care. You have _nothing _to be sorry for. Trust me, you're going to be hearing that word a lot today so let's please just leave that word out of our vocabulary okay?" Elena said with a firm but soft tone. "You're going through something horrible and difficult but I'm here for you. I will always be here for you. I know I'm not your prince charming, but I do promise you forever Caroline. I promise you my friendship for as long as I'm walking this planet." Elena said through tear-filled eyes and a small smile.

Caroline gave small laugh between her tears and hugged her friend again and they both cried together for a few moments until they were interrupted by a small knock on the door.

"Hey guys, everyone is waiting downstairs," Bonnie said in a small voice.

Caroline and Elena both turned to look at her and Caroline quickly went to grab her shoes but Elena stopped her and handed her a pair of black tights.

"Here put these on. It'll help with the cold." Elena said giving her a reassuring smile.

Caroline nodded and proceeded to finished getting ready. After a few minutes, she walked out of her house alongside Elena, Bonnie, Stefan, and Damon Salvatore. They all rode in the car in silence and as they approached the church, Caroline felt her mouth grow dry and her body tensed from head to toe. If she were still human, she was sure she would be sick right at that moment. They parked in front of the church and Stefan opened the car door for her and helped her out. He put a comforting arm around her and Elena instantly came around and wrapped her arm around hers. There were a few people standing outside the church looking at her curiously but Caroline tried to ignore their stares and kept her focus on the ground before her. She stopped for a moment at the entrance to the church and took a deep breath. Elena squeezed her hand reassuringly and she felt Stefan squeeze her shoulder a little as well. Caroline gave them both an appreciative nod and proceeded to walk inside. It seemed as if the entire town had shown up but Caroline was not surprised. Liz Forbes had been the beloved town sheriff. As she sat down next to Elena and Stefan and the service started, she felt the tears begin to form again. She became aware of Elena's hand wrapped around hers tightly and could see Elena fighting her own tears.

The service proceeded at agonizing pace for Caroline. She felt as if she was suffocating and although she was extremely grateful for her friends' presence and support, all she wanted at that moment was to curl up in her mother's arms but she knew that was impossible. Never again would she able to feel her mother's touch or hear her voice again. It was bittersweet listening to her mother's friends tell stories about their past experiences and adventures. The tears were never ending but she managed to smile at some of the stories and remember just how happy her mom had been. When it was finally her turn to speak, she knew that was going to be one of the most difficult moments of her life. She looked down at her notes she had prepared, the story she had prepared to retell about a happier time in their lives. Back when everything was simple. Before they found out about supernatural beings. Before she became a vampire. She hated how insecure and weak she had felt before she became a vampire but at the moment, she couldn't help but envy the mortality that came with being a human. She would only have to miss her mom for a lifetime rather than several. She wouldn't have to see every human she cared about die. She glanced at Matt sitting next to Bonnie and felt her chest tighten.

"Care?" Stefan asked gently.

She looked at him as she wiped her tears and tried to give him a brave smile. Elena tried to smile through her tears and the rest of her friends gave her the best reassuring smiles they could muster. She took the podium and took in a deep breath as she began to do one of the hardest things she would ever have to do. Toward the end of her speech, she stopped for a second when she thought she caught sight of a familiar individual. A _very _familiar individual she had not seen in years. Just as quickly as she thought she saw him, he disappeared. She shook her head and ended her speech early, thanking everyone for their support and quickly went to retake her seat next to her friends. The service ended shortly after and Caroline quickly tried to make her escape and avoid the sea of condolences she was sure to get but did not want to hear. She waited inside the car for her friends to join her shortly so they could head to the cemetery.

"People were wondering where you ran off to," Stefan said as he got in the car.

"I'm sorry, I just can't handle hearing everyone telling me how sorry they are for my loss. Not yet. I'm sorry, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I just gave my mother's eulogy and now I'm heading to see her be buried six feet underground. I just need some time to get used to this. I'm sorry," Caroline said through endless tears.

"What did I say about apologizing?" Elena said as she joined them in the car.

"She's right Barbie, it's been a shitty day. You get to do what you want today," Damon said as he started the car.

Caroline tried to give them a smile but all she could muster was a small nod between her sobs. She appreciated their support, even Damon's, who had never exactly been sympathetic toward her. Elena held her tightly and cried alongside with her as the Salvatore brothers sat in silence, both lost in their own painful memories of having to say goodbye to their loved ones so many times before.

As she listened to the priest read some bible passages at the cemetery later that day, Caroline let her mind wander back to the semester she spent abroad in New Zealand. It had been one of the best times of her life, up until she received the call from her mother toward the end of stay.

"_Hi honey, how are you?" Liz asked her daughter over the phone._

"_Hey mom! I have so many things to tell you! Have you been getting my pictures? Oh! Did you get the postcard I sent you last week?" Caroline replied excitedly._

"_Sweetie, I'm really sorry, I want to hear all your stories I do, but we need to talk about something." Liz said gently._

_Caroline did not like the tone in which her mother spoke and something told her that something was terribly wrong. _

"_Mom, what's wrong?" Caroline asked, instantly worried. _

_Her mother did not reply immediately and Caroline could hear her mom's soft sobs through the phone._

"_Mom?" Caroline asked in a soft but pained voice._

"_Sweetie, I think it's time you came home." Liz said in a choked voice._

Now as she stood here at her mother's funeral, Caroline couldn't help but hate herself for not having been by her mother's side the whole time. She was staring absentmindedly out beyond where the priest stood, looking at nothing in particular but she thought she saw someone, that same someone she had seen at the church, next to some gravestones some distance away. Just like at the church, just as quick as she saw him, he disappeared.

_Great, now I'm losing my mind at my mother's funeral. Just what I needed and why do I keep seeing him of all people? _Caroline thought to herself. After she stepped forward and placed her rose over her mother's casket, she stepped back and watched everyone else do the same. Elena came to stand next to her and they stood in silence for a moment.

"For what it's worth, I think you are so much better than any prince charming. They're overrated." Caroline said quietly.

Elena smiled at her and linked their arms once more. After the service, Caroline worked her way back to the car with her friends after having to listen to everyone express their condolences. While she appreciated everyone's support and concern, she was exhausted by the time she reached the car. Everyone was quiet, all lost in their own thoughts as they rode back to Caroline's house. Stefan and Damon dropped her and Elena off at her home and left to give them time to themselves.

"You want me to get you anything?" Elena asked as Caroline walked into her room, ready to shut herself in there forever.

"A time machine? The cure for cancer?" Caroline asked in a somewhat sarcastic tone. "Sorry Elena, that was rude." Caroline immediately apologized.

"Hey, no apologizing remember?" Elena said. "I know it doesn't feel like it now, but the pain does get a little bit better, it becomes more manageable after a while."

"Am I horrible person for feeling worst about losing my mother than I did about my father?" Caroline asked in a choked voice. "I'm all alone Elena. I'm all alone," she sobbed.

"You're not alone Care. You have me, Stefan, Bonnie, Matt, even Damon." Elena said soothingly. "We're all here for you, we care about you and love you. You're far from alone."

"How did you do it? How did you handle losing Jeremy?" Caroline asked in a barely audible voice. She instantly felt Elena tense next to her and immediately regretted bringing up such a painful subject.

"I didn't at first. I shut my humanity off remember?" Elena said in the same small voice. "But that didn't make it any better. The fact remained the same, I only prolonged dealing with the inevitable. I made it worst for myself."

"Elena, I don't know if I can do this. How am I supposed to survive eternity without my mom?" Caroline managed to choke out.

"Together. We'll survive it together." Elena responded, hugging her tightly.

Caroline heard her friend and while liked to think she was right, at that moment all she could think about was her human life and how different things would be if she knew she only had to survive one lifetime without her mother rather than several. At that moment, she would give anything to acquire the cure and be able to live out a human life, the human life she had always planned. And it was these thoughts that led her to think about a certain hybrid that had once helped her inadvertently in more ways than one on her 18th birthday years ago. That same hybrid that she thought she had been seeing all day. The last individual who was rumored to have acquired the cure from a dying Katherine Pierce years ago.

**It's off to a slow start but I just wanted to set the background for the story. There will be more dialogue & character interactions next chapter. Thank you for reading & please let me know what you think! :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything about TVD, these are just my ideas. **

**Note: This story does not strictly follow TVD; some characters are dead, others are alive & some story lines do have some changes. Thanks so much AngelOfMusic44 and DannieSalvasonxox for the reviews I appreciate them! Thanks everyone for reading!**

Caroline lied in bed wide-awake feeling sleep would be evading her that night. She had just buried her mother that day and the whole thing seemed surreal to her. Part of her still hoped in vain that this was all some sick nightmare and she would wake up to find everything normal. But this hope was fleeting. If she was being perfectly honest with herself, she wasn't just mourning the loss of her mother. She found herself mourning the loss of her human life and the choices she had been stripped of. In the months leading up to her mother's death, her friends had started to have discussions about moving on from Mystic Falls in the near future. It had been six years since the Salvatore brothers had arrived back in Mystic Falls and one could not help but notice that they hadn't aged a day since their arrival. It was only a matter of time before the questions started. Elena talked about joining them when they did decide to leave instead of returning to Mystic Falls after college for it was only a matter of time before people noticed her lack of aging as well. It was something that had been bothering Caroline and her mother. What would Caroline do? While Caroline no longer had to worry about leaving her mom behind, she laid there thinking about what her life would consist of as an immortal. Although she had found she liked to explore the world, she would never be able to settle anywhere. Is this something she could do forever? Is this something she wanted to do forever?

She felt Elena stir next to her but she remained fast asleep. Caroline glanced at the clock on her nightstand and saw it was almost 2 am. She buried her head in her pillow and tried to catch some sleep, hoping to avoid the nightmares she had been having since her mother's death.

"_We all want the cure," Caroline said in a heated voice._

"_Do we? Do you?" he said in a calm but serious tone._

"_It doesn't matter. There's only one so it's not like I'm going to get it anyway," she responded quickly._

"_But if you could? You wouldn't would you?" he asked quietly. Sensing her reluctance, he continued. "You prefer who you are now to the girl you once were. You like being strong, ageless, fearless…" he said, putting emphasis on the final three words._

Suddenly, Caroline was startled by some movement in her room. She glanced at Elena who remained in a deep sleep and looked around the room but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She glanced at the clock again and saw it was exactly 2 am. _It's only been a few minutes _Caroline thought to herself. _This is going to be a long night! _

Just then, Caroline saw through the crack underneath her bedroom door that the hallway light was on. _That definitely wasn't on before. Right? _She turned to look at Elena again and contemplated waking her but decided against it. For some reason she couldn't explain, she wasn't worried. In fact, she felt like she was supposed to go out there on her own. Ignoring all her judgments, she carefully got out of bed and walked out of her bedroom. She saw that the lights were on downstairs as well. She walked downstairs as quietly as possible and stopped at the foot of the stairs and sucked in a deep breath when she saw someone standing near the entryway to the living room facing away from her. _It's not possible…_

"Klaus…" Caroline started in a tight voice, not believing her eyes. She could not believe he was really standing in front of her after so many years.

He slowly turned and took in her appearance with a serious look. She could not deny the sadness she saw in his eyes which made her feel an unexpected feeling in the core of her stomach. She tried to ignore this feeling and took in his appearance instead. She took in his short dirty blonde hair that was a little ruffled, his mesmerizing blue eyes that she remembered getting lost in so many times before, his strong and defined cheekbones and jawline…She noticed the stubble on his face and instantly remembered what it had felt like against her skin years ago. She felt her cheeks grow warm and decided to focus on something else. He was dressed in a black Henley and black jeans, and she could see his lean muscles through his shirt taking her down memory lane once more, making her cheeks feel even warmer. She quickly brought her eyes back up to his face to see his infamous smirk on his face but she could still see that hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Hello Caroline," Klaus said in his usual smooth voice.

At that moment, Caroline was surprised to realize she had missed the sound of his voice, those blue eyes, dimpled smile… She had missed him; she had missed Klaus Mikaelson. She quickly brushed that thought aside however, and focused on the situation at hand.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked as steadily as she could. "Have you been following me all day? First at the church, then at the cemetery, now here?" _He said he was never coming back…_

"Well love, I had hoped our reunion would be under happier circumstances but it seems life had other plans," Klaus responded in a casual tone but Caroline could hear the seriousness underneath his voice.

She remained where she was and simply looked at him with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate. He had still not answered her question after all.

"Let me ask you something Caroline. What do you want?" Klaus asked in a low and serious voice.

"What are you talking about?" Caroline responded, quickly become frustrated with him.

"What do you want in your life? Your mother has just passed. What do you want in your life now?" Klaus asked, slowly approaching her.

Caroline took in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the tears stinging in her eyes. _I will not let him see me cry._

"I don't see how that's any of your concern. Like you said, my mother just passed so you'll have to forgive me for not contemplating the rest of my life at this exact moment," she responded angrily. _Who the hell does he think he is?_

"We both know that's not entirely true now don't we?" he responded sarcastically.

"Well obviously you seem to know more about me than I do so why don't you enlighten me?" she asked, matching his sarcastic tone.

"Does the cure have any significance to you?" he asked quietly, standing almost directly in front of her. "Hmm?"

She quickly snapped up her gaze to meet his and was instantly sucked in by the intensity of his stare. She couldn't quite identify what she was seeing in his eyes but for some reason, she thought back to a conversation she had with him one night years ago, _"You're beautiful, you're strong, you're full of light." _Caroline felt the tears begin to sting in her eyes once more and although she tried to look away from his eyes she couldn't. It was like she was desperately trying to find all her answers in them.

Klaus said nothing and surprised her by simply closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around her, holding her tightly in his surprisingly warm embrace. She took in his scent and hesitated for a moment but a bigger part of her just wanted to be held and protected from her reality. Specifically, she wanted to be held by him. She slowly wrapped her arms around him and felt him tighten his hold. The feeling and their lingering conversation were too much for her and she was unable to fight back the tears any longer. She surprised herself when she heard a sob escape her as the grief came rushing over her with an overwhelming force. His arms were literally the only things holding her up at the moment. Caroline buried her head into his chest and let the grief consume her. She was not sure how long she cried or how long he held her in his strong embrace. She felt her eyelids growing heavy but the tears would not stop. She was startled when she felt a small hand shaking her slightly.

"Caroline? Care wake up, it's just a dream," Elena said, shaking her friend a little harder.

Caroline opened her eyes slowly and saw Elena leaning over her with a concerned look on her face. Caroline was surprised to see she was in her room again. She quickly glanced at the door and saw it was closed, the hallway dark.

"What is happening?" Caroline asked frantically.

She jumped out of bed and rushed out of her room to the stairs. She saw the first floor was completely dark but rushed downstairs anyway with Elena close behind her questioning what she was doing. Caroline looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary. _Where is he?_

"Caroline are you okay? What is it?" Elena asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"He was here. I was talking to him and then…" Caroline started. _I could've sworn…_

"Who was here?" Elena asked obviously worried.

Caroline looked around the room, part of her hoping she would see him or some evidence that he had been there but saw nothing. She caught sight of the clock on the mantle and noticed the time. It was almost 4 am. _I must have fallen asleep. It was all a dream…_

"Care?" Elena interrupted her thoughts.

"It's nothing Elena, I'm sorry. I must have been dreaming," Caroline responded in a low voice. _It wasn't real._ "Let's try and get some sleep."

Elena looked at her tentatively and opened her mouth to say something but quickly decided against it.

"How about I make us some tea or something? I think I saw some tequila in one of the cupboards, that we could mix in," Elena said with a small smile.

Caroline nodded her head giving her the same small smile and followed her into the kitchen. They ended up drinking only the tequila, neither one saying anything for a while.

"Caroline are you sure you're okay? What was that all about tonight?" Elena asked. "Who were you looking for?"

"It was nothing Elena. I must have fallen asleep without realizing it and was obviously dreaming without realizing it. I'm sorry if I scared you, but I'm okay," Caroline responded. "I promise," she added after noticing Elena's unconvinced stare.

"Okay," Elena conceded but she still appeared reluctant.

They resumed drinking in silence until they finished the bottle. At this point it was a little lighter outside and although Caroline knew neither one would be getting much sleep anymore, they both went back upstairs to try and get some rest. As Caroline settled into bed, she kept replaying her conversation with Klaus in her head, his scent, his warm embrace and how she felt when he held her. _It all felt so real. _She sighed in frustration and tossed over onto her side and tried to ignore the feeling of disappointment that was flooding her stomach at the thought that their encounter had only been a dream.

Caroline awoke to the smell of casseroles downstairs. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the sunlight streaming in through her curtains. She looked at the time and was surprised to see it was almost noon. _I actually got some sleep._ She instantly remembered the night before, and all the feelings came back with it. She found herself growing increasingly frustrated with the whole thing. _Why are you everywhere all of a sudden Klaus Mikaelson? I see you when I'm awake and I see you in my dreams! God, I really am losing my mind!_ She thought back to his embrace and how safe she had felt at that moment. In that moment, she truly did believe that maybe, just maybe, it could be okay. But that moment was fleeting and she was once again slapped in the face by reality when she realized it was just a dream. She once again tried to ignore that overwhelming feeling of disappointment and instead focused on the sounds downstairs. She could hear people moving things around and she could hear voices.

"Well it definitely doesn't look like anyone forced their way in so if anyone was here, they were definitely not strangers," Stefan said.

"What's the big deal? Barbie had a bad dream and woke up crying," Damon said. "With everything she has going on right now, I can't say I'm exactly shocked."

"You didn't see her Damon. She was frantic and confused, like she truly believed she had just been talking to somebody," Elena responded with an edge to her voice. "For a moment, even I doubted if she had just been dreaming."

"But she wouldn't tell you who it was?" Stefan asked.

"No," Elena sighed. "I didn't want to push it. You should've seen her, she was shaking and crying in her sleep…I just wish I knew what more I could to help her."

"There's only so much you can do Elena," Damon said. "And give her some credit, Barbie is stronger than you think."

"_You're beautiful, you're strong, you're full of light."_

Caroline sighed again and shook her head and decided to get out of bed despite every nerve in her body protesting against her moving ever again. Her friends were obviously worried about her so she needed to try and put her best foot forward and show them there was nothing to be concerned about even though she herself wasn't entirely convinced. _My mother just died and I keep imagining a certain hybrid everywhere. I'm sure that's entirely normal._

She slowly worked her way to the shower and stood there for a long time, enjoying the feel of the hot water against her skin. She decided to block out all her thoughts and just concentrate on the water soothing her skin but her mind eventually wandered to the trip she took with her mom, Elena and Bonnie to Niagra Falls the spring of their sophomore year of college. It had been an amazing trip and Caroline felt a knot form in her throat at the memory. She quickly shut off the water and got dressed. By the time she got downstairs, the smell of casseroles was overwhelming and she felt a strong desire to throw up.

"Good morning sunshine," Damon said as he noticed her standing next to the kitchen entryway.

"Hey," Caroline said with the best smile she could manage. "What's all this?"

"Some of the neighbors dropped by earlier to express their condolences," Bonnie said walking into the kitchen behind her.

"Oh hey Bonnie I didn't know you were here," Caroline said surprised.

"I only got here a few minutes ago. I had some things to take care of this morning," Bonnie replied.

Caroline noticed the concerned look Bonnie was giving her and decided to open one of the casserole trays. "Smells good," she said with a pained smile.

She was painfully aware of the silence that filled the room but decided she would try and ignore it.

"Anybody want some?" she asked with a little too much enthusiasm.

"We're fine thanks," Stefan said in a calm tone but Caroline could her the apprehension underneath. "Elena tells us you had a rough night," he continued.

Caroline couldn't help but glare over at Elena but quickly turned to look at her friends.

"I'm fine, everything is fine." Caroline quickly responded. "It was just a bad dream that felt a little too real that's all."

"Who were you talking to Care?" Bonnie asked.

"It doesn't matter because it wasn't real," Caroline snapped.

Even though she knew they were only concerned, she was growing rather irritated with her friend's incessant questions. How could she admit to them that she had been dreaming about Klaus and thought she had seen him at her mother's funeral? How could she admit to them that conversations that she had with him years ago kept replaying in her head? How could she admit that she was incredibly disappointed that last night had turned out to only be a dream?

"Caroline we're only concerned about you and want to help you but you need to let us," Elena said. "Stop trying to act like you're fine and everything is fine when it's not. If you don't want to talk about last night fine we don't have to, but please don't pretend that it didn't happen and that what is happening isn't about something bigger. We both know your dream was not just a nightmare. You wouldn't have been so upset if it had been."

Caroline took in Elena's words and thought back to her dream and what she had been discussing with Klaus. He asked her what she wanted in her life now that her mother was gone. _He mentioned the cure._ She remembered how right before she had "encountered" Klaus downstairs, she had been dreaming about a previous conversation she had with him about the cure.

"Caroline?" Stefan asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"I'm fine," Caroline repeated absentmindedly. _Do I keep thinking about him because of the cure? _"I just need some air."

She quickly walked away before anyone could stop her and rushed out the door and finally stopped when she was down the street. She heard footsteps behind her though and knew she had been followed by one of them.

"You don't have to babysit me you know?" she said.

"Can you blame us for worrying about you?" Stefan asked as he caught up to her.

"There's a fine line between worrying and being smothering," Caroline responded half-jokingly.

"If I remember correctly, you're the one who's notoriously known for doing that," Stefan responded with a small chuckle.

"Hey!" Caroline exclaimed playfully shoving him in the arm.

Stefan laughed at this and they both continued walking in silence for a few moments.

"I keep seeing him," Caroline said suddenly.

Stefan looked at her quizzically but said nothing, allowing her to continue.

"Klaus…I keep thinking I see him at all these different places." Caroline said nervously.

She was nervous telling Stefan but she felt she needed to tell someone and she knew she could trust him with this. She watched him tense slightly at the mention of Klaus' name.

"Is that who you thought you were talking to last night?" Stefan asked quietly.

Caroline simply nodded and kept looking straight ahead as Stefan remained quiet for a few moments.

"Does this…why do you think you keep seeing him?" Stefan asked finally. "Do you miss him?"

Caroline laughed nervously at his question but she refused to admit to anyone that she did miss Kluas, even if it was only a little. She had realized as much last night.

"I honestly don't know for sure why I keep seeing him," she said. "I think I might have an idea as to why though."

Stefan raised his eyebrow, silently asking her to continue.

"Right before I thought I talked to him last night, I remembered a conversation he and I had several years ago," she paused and took in a deep breath, not sure how to continue. "It was about the cure."

"What about the cure?" Stefan asked curiously.

"He asked me if I would ever take it," she proceeded, feeling her mouth grow dry as the conversation progressed. "In my dream, he pretty much asked me the same thing."

Stefan looked at her and thought about what she was saying.

"So you think you keep seeing Klaus because you keep thinking about the cure?" Stefan finally concluded.

Caroline did not respond or look at him. She kept her gaze fixed straight ahead and tried desperately not to let her eyes fill with tears as she contemplated the cure.

"Caroline, are you considering taking the cure?" Stefan asked in a low voice.

It pained her to hear the pain in his voice even though he tried to hide it.

"It doesn't matter because it's not like I'm going to get it anyway," she responded quickly, repeating much the same words she had said to Klaus years ago.

It was an easy answer to give, one that allowed her to avoid getting to the heart of the question.

"But if you could, would you?" he pressed.

She took in a deep breath to calm herself. This whole conversation felt like deja-vu only this time, she had a different perspective.

"I don't know Stefan," she finally responded in a barely audible whisper. "I don't know what I want anymore. Everything has changed since I became a vampire six years ago and I'm trying to deal with everything as best as I can and-" she was cut off by Stefan pulling her into a warm embrace that instantly took her mind back to Klaus. She mentally kicked herself.

"You don't have to make any decisions right now Care," Stefan said soothingly.

They both remained quiet for a few minutes until she finally pulled away and wiped the tears running down her face. She looked at him sadly and said "I don't know if I want forever anymore Stefan."

Stefan said nothing at nothing at first but rather looked at her with immense sadness filling his eyes.

"Like I said, you don't have to make any decisions right now," he said softly.

They both continued walking in silence, both thinking about the conversation they just had.

"Please don't tell the others what I told you," she said quietly.

He nodded. He was about to say something when he stopped suddenly. Caroline turned to see what he was looking at but saw nothing.

"What is it Stefan?" she asked.

Stefan turned back to look at her.

"Either my subconscious is also taking on the form of an original, or I just saw Elijah Mikaelson," he said tensely.

Caroline gasped in surprise and turned to look at where he had been looking, half expecting to see something or _someone _else.

"My history with them has taught me one thing: where one original goes, another usually follows, " Stefan said quietly behind her.

At that moment she could only think of one original. _Klaus…_

**Thanks for reading & bearing with the story! We will see some more faces pop up next chapter & since this is a Klaroline story (in case anyone was wondering hehe) we will see a lot more between them. Again, just setting the background for the story Please review & let me know what you think! I really appreciate it! Also, if you want to see Klaroline actually happen in the show, please help the cause & sign at this link **

** petitions/cw-klaroline-fans-need-your-help**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! Thank you to all who have followed & faved the story! And thank you so much for the reviews! It means a lot! Just a reminder, this story deviates from the show so we will be seeing some of my favorite characters pop up. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I apologize for any errors!**

Stefan sighed as Caroline asked him the same questions for what felt like the hundredth time in the last twenty minutes.

"Are you sure of what you saw? Are you sure it was him?" she asked frantically.

"It all happened very quickly Caroline but I am fairly certain that was Elijah," he replied as calmly as he could.

He couldn't help but wonder if it had been wise of him to mention anything at all.

"But you don't know for sure?" she asked, _again_.

"Look Caroline, we're obviously going in circles with this conversation. He's long gone so staying here discussing my vision isn't really getting us anywhere. Let's go back to your house, I'm sure Elena and Bonnie are getting worried," he said.

"I can't just go back home not knowing for sure if the originals are back in town!" she said loudly, with a wide-eyed indignant look.

"Care-" Stefan started but was interrupted.

"Look, if the originals are back in town it has to be for some reason, some _important _reason. Mystic Falls isn't exactly a dream vacation spot so I'm pretty sure if they're here, it's for something that will probably end up involving us somehow," Caroline said firmly. "We need to find out for sure if they're back. If they are, we need to find out why," she said with that same firm tone.

She crossed her arms and looked him dead in the eye, letting him know she wasn't going to budge on this.

"How can you be so sure that what they're doing has _anything _to do with us?" he asked.

"Because it's _us_! Just look back on the last few years! Mystic Falls isn't exactly the biggest town so when something supernatural happens, it always ends up involving it's supernatural residents and just our luck, those residents usually end up being us!" Caroline said growing frustrated. _Seriously? He acts like he just moved here or had the events of the last six years wiped out from his memory!_

Stefan sighed but he couldn't deny Caroline had a point. As soon as he thought he saw Elijah, he knew he had to find out if the original family was back in town because he himself was concerned but didn't exactly want Caroline with him. She had been through a lot these past few weeks and what she needed to do was rest and process everything. She needed to heal. Especially now that he discovered she was contemplating taking the cure. The idea pained him.

"Okay Caroline," Stefan finally said. "Let's get you back home and I promise you I will find out if the original family is indeed back in town and why. As soon as I know of anything, I will contact you and let you know."

"I appreciate the offer but I'm coming with you Stefan," she said firmly.

"Caroline please don't make this difficult," he said. "We don't know why they're here, or if any of their enemies rolled into town with them. It could be dangerous."

"This is only as difficult as you make it Stefan," Caroline said raising an eyebrow. "You can stand here and argue with me or you can make things simple and just accept that I'm coming with you and save us both some time and if we're together, we could help each other out should we run into problems."

She was one of the most stubborn people he had ever met.

"What makes you so sure I'll end up accepting for you to come with me?" he asked, raising his eyebrow to mirror her expression.

"Because you and I both know that even if you refuse to take me, I'll end up going to find the originals myself," she answered confidently. "But if you agree to just let me come with you, it saves us both all the hassle."

"You're relentless Forbes" Stefan chuckled.

He couldn't help but laugh at his friend's stubbornness and reasoning despite how frustrated she was making him. He knew she was right though. He could try and take her back to her house but he knew she would really try and find a way to sneak away on her own to find out the same information he was after. At least if she was with him, there were fewer chances she could get herself into trouble.

"Fine," he finally conceded. "But some ground rules first. If there's even the slightest threat I'm getting you out of there and you will not go back on your own. Deal?"

"You're paranoid Salvatore," she retorted with a chuckle. "But you have yourself a deal."

"Hey, you're the one who eloquently reminded me how things always go down in Mystic Falls for its supernatural residents," he replied with a grin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Should we have gone after her?" Bonnie asked the others, concern evident in her voice.

"Stefan is with her, they probably went to The Grill or something. Just relax," Damon said, helping himself to Caroline's liquor supply.

"Well he's not answering any of my messages and I found Caroline's phone upstairs," Elena said, sighing in frustration.

"She's upset, she just needs space and time. She'll come to you when she's ready," Damon stated calmly.

"Since when did you become an expert on Caroline Forbes?" Bonnie asked bitingly.

While Caroline had never talked to her about her past relationship with Damon, Bonnie had heard a few details from Elena and knew that Caroline and the eldest Salvatore were not exactly the friendliest to one another. They were amicable to each other at best for the sakes of Elena and Stefan.

"I never said I was but there's something called the 'seven stages of grief,' you should Google it" Damon responded sarcastically. "You might be able to help your friend better."

"Any other recommendations Dr. Phil?" Bonnie responded with an eye roll. _This arrogant asshole._

"Well I can think of a few but that's enough to get you started" Damon responded with a smug smile.

Bonnie opened her mouth to respond when she was interrupted.

"Okay we get it! You two don't like each other. Can we please focus instead on how we're actually going to help Caroline?" Elena said angrily.

"I'm telling you, the more you try and push her with all this 'deal with your emotions' crap, the more she's going to pull away," Damon said seriously. "My humanity may have a 'dimmer switch', but I've lost enough people to respect where Blondie is coming from."

Elena and Bonnie stood quietly and watched Damon leave the room and a few seconds later, heard the front door shut.

"What the hell just happened?" Elena asked a little bewildered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

"Explain to me why we're here again?" Caroline asked, following Stefan up the front steps to an old house outside of town.

"Shane is an old friend of mine. He investigates a lot of things having to do with the supernatural and is usually well informed about things going on in this town." Stefan replied.

"So what is he, like a private investigator for the supernatural?" she asked.

"Not exactly," he said with a small laugh. "Trust me, if the originals are back in town, Shane will know something. We can go from there."

"Okay…why can't we just go to their old house and see for ourselves?" Caroline asked. _I need to see for myself._

"That sounds like a great idea. Let's go knock on their front door and say what? We thought we saw you earlier so we decided to drop by with a fruit basket and welcome you back to the neighborhood?" Stefan teased.

Caroline glared at him but laughed, conceding he had a point. As much as she wanted to see them with her own eyes, they couldn't exactly go knocking on their front door. But if they were back in town, they weren't making it a point of hiding it since Stefan had seen Elijah so did it really matter if they did just show up? _Then again he did disappear as soon as Stefan saw him…__**if **__Stefan saw him._ She sighed and thought about how she should've followed through with her plans of locking herself in her room forever. Everything in the real world was just so complicated.

"I have to warn you, Shane is a little…odd," Stefan said quietly so only she could hear as they stood outside the front door.

Caroline watched as Stefan knocked in some type of pattern? _What the hell?_ Stefan gave her a look warning her not to say anything as they both heard footsteps come up behind the door.

"Stefan good to see you old friend!" said a tall lanky man with curly black hair and dark brown eyes.

Caroline and Stefan both watched him hesitate as he noticed her.

"She's undead?" Shane asked in a very low voice to Stefan. "Is she tame?" he whispered even lower.

It took everything inside of her not to roll her eyes. _I can hear you and I'm not some wild animal!_

"Hi my name is Caroline," she said with a bright smile, trying to ease his obvious tension.

"Shane this is my friend, I promise you she won't hurt you," Stefan replied calmly.

Caroline knew him well enough to know that he was extremely amused by this whole situation.

"So she is undead like you?" Shane asked again, apprehension still in his voice.

"Yes Shane, she's a vampire just like me, but I give you my word that no harm will come to you from either of us. We just have a few questions we thought you might be able to help us out with," Stefan replied.

"Of course, come in come in. Any friend of Stefan's is a friend of mine," Shane said looking at Caroline and extending an awkward hand out to her.

Caroline looked at Stefan, now feeling the apprehension herself, and noticed the undeniable grin he had on his face.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Stefan said so low that human ears would not be able to hear what he said.

"So what can I do for you old friend?" Shane asked as he led the way to his living room.

"Well, we were wondering if you had heard any news about anybody new paying a visit to the neighborhood?" Stefan asked. "You know, someone from our community."

"You mean supernatural?" Shane asked.

Stefan nodded.

"Well, I did hear rumors about some movement across the pond if you catch my meaning," Shane said with a chuckle, obviously amused by his own joke.

Caroline smiled politely but refused to catch Stefan's eye afraid she might lose it.

"One of my sources tells me that a few groups are heading in this direction."

"As in vampires? Why?" Stefan asked.

"What groups?" Caroline asked at almost the same time.

"I'm afraid I don't have much information, everyone is being so secretive," Shane said sadly. "I did hear a rumor about one particular group. They're a ruthless bunch, they will not hesitate to destroy anything or anyone that gets in their way," he finished solemnly.

"What else do you know about this group?" Stefan asked calmly although Caroline could hear the tension underneath his voice.

"Not much I'm afraid. A lot of stories you hear are not first hand accounts, some could very well be fabricated but they are a force to be reckoned with," Shane answered. "There are very few individuals who have come across these individuals and lived to tell the tale."

"Why are they coming to Mystic Falls?" Stefan asked.

"I'm sorry my friend I feel I keep failing you today," Shane answered shaking his head. "I know not exact details but it seems they are all after something the original vampire family is keen on protecting."

Stefan sighed. _Of course._

"But why here? Why Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked tensely. "The original family hasn't been here in years."

"Dear girl, whatever they are bent on protecting is here in Mystic Falls."

Caroline turned to look at Stefan, worry evident in both of their expressions.

"I'm assuming the originals already know about this and will be paying a visit sometime soon?" Stefan asked. "If not already?"

"Well you know the original vampire family is too a force to be reckoned with and are also very secretive," Shane responded. "I heard they are taking matters in the situation but as far as I know, they remain with their hands tied in other business matters in New Orleans."

"All of them?" Caroline asked quickly causing Stefan and Shane to both glance at her.

"Yes, I believe so," Shane responded a little confused. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just want to be sure we don't have to worry about running into them anytime soon," Stefan answered before Caroline could say anything.

She did not miss the look he gave her.

"If you hear anything else please let me know Shane," Stefan added. "Be careful, especially if we're expecting some company."

"Of course old friend. I only hope this company is not here to stay," Shane said visibly shuddering at the thought.

Caroline followed Stefan out after saying bye to Shane and wishing him luck.

"What the hell?" Caroline nearly yelled as soon as they were back in Stefan's car.

"Caroline it's going to be okay," Stefan reassured her.

"Mystic Falls is about to serve as the battle ground for Vampire World War 300 or something and you're telling me it's going to be ok?" she retorted. "Seriously, how does Mystic Falls, and by extension _us,_ always get the short end of the stick?"

"These groups aren't here yet Caroline meaning there's still time for us to figure something out. Shane also said that the originals are already taking care of it. If we're lucky, they're moving whatever it is they're trying to protect to New Orleans or someplace else and then these groups will follow them there and it won't be our issue anymore," Stefan finished calmly though she sensed the tenseness in his voice.

Caroline sat for a moment silently looking at him.

"I know you're worried and are just trying to make me feel better," she said. "While I appreciate it, you don't always have to try and sugar coat things for me you know?"

"It's going to be okay Caroline," he said again giving her a small smile.

She sighed and looked out the window for a long time.

"You thought you saw Elijah but Shane said that the originals are still back in New Orleans," Caroline said with a small frown. "We didn't even find out for sure if any of them are back in town."

"Yes we did," Stefan said quietly.

She looked at him raising her eyebrow as he pulled onto his driveway.

"We did?" she finally asked after he failed to elaborate.

"Yes," Stefan answered as they made their way inside his house. He stopped suddenly and put out his arm to stop her too. "Someone's here," he said so lowly she never would've been able to hear him without her vampire hearing.

Caroline didn't even have time to react when she felt a whoosh behind her followed by a sharp pain and then everything went black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey Stefan, it's me _again_. Just wanted to check in and see how things were going with Care. Call me back when you get this," Elena said into the phone.

She turned to look at Bonnie and she could see Bonnie was equally frustrated.

"Damon's not answering his phone either," Elena said exasperated.

"I wouldn't worry about him, he's probably drinking The Grill's entire liquor supply and is too wasted to notice his phone," Bonnie said darkly.

"He's definitely not at The Grill," Matt said walking into the kitchen carrying yet another casserole tray. "I just got off my shift not too long ago and he wasn't there."

"You said you didn't see Care or Stefan there either?" Elena asked apprehensively.

Matt shook his head.

"Where could they all be?" she asked taking the tray from Matt and placing it loudly on the kitchen counter.

"I'm sure they're okay Elena. Stefan will take care of Caroline and we know Damon has a tendency to be well, Damon," Matt said trying to reassure Elena. "He's not exactly known for calling to check in."

"I just feel so useless. I should be there with Caroline but what am I doing? I'm putting a hundred casserole trays away instead. Damon shows a little bit of compassion and what do I do? I let him walk away," Elena said rubbing her temples in frustration.

"Damon didn't exactly sit down and have a heart-to-heart with you Elena," Bonnie said a little more harshly than she intended.

Elena looked at her angrily but didn't say anything.

"I'm going to go look for Caroline. Want to come?" she asked Matt, anger evident in her voice.

"Uhh sure," Matt said looking between Elena and Bonnie. "Lead the way."

Elena walked out without a second look at Bonnie. Matt stayed behind looking at Bonnie.

"It's okay go. I'll stay here in case they come back. I'll give you guys a call," Bonnie said quietly.

Matt nodded giving her an apologetic look and then followed after Elena.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Caroline slowly opened her eyelids, trying to focus on her surroundings but was seeing everything as a huge blur. _What the hell happened?_

"Caroline you okay?" Stefan asked apprehensively near her.

She tried to turn and focus on where he was but felt her neck incredibly sore. She tried to rub her neck but then felt the burn on her arms. She was tied with vervain ropes.

"What happened?" she groaned as everything started coming into focus. "Where are we?"

One quick glance told her they were not Stefan's boarding house.

"Look who finally decided to join us in the land of the living," someone said from behind her.

Caroline turned her head so quickly she wouldn't have been surprised if she had snapped her neck herself. She gasped as she caught sight of Stefan tied to a chair and judging by the burn marks on his arms, those ropes were soaked in vervain too. She looked in front her again and blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing what she thought was seeing.

She then recognized where she was. She had not been here in years but she knew she was in fact in the Mikaelson home and standing in front of her was an original she had never exactly gotten along with. With a smug smile, Rebekah Mikaelson walked closer to them.

"What do you want with us?" Caroline hissed.

"I should ask you the same thing," Rebekah responded with the same smug smile but the anger was evident in her voice. "Rumor has it you've been going around asking questions about us."

_Okay how the hell does she know that?_

"Look Rebekah, we don't want any trouble," Stefan said. "We simply wanted to know for sure if you really were back in town. Rumor has it you guys were never coming back here."

"Well, looks like you've found your answer haven't you?" Rebekah answered with the same smile and tone as before.

She eyed them both glaring at them.

"That's not all you wanted to know," she almost hissed. It was not a question, but a statement. She knew they had been after more information than they were letting on.

Just then, they heard the door open and footsteps coming toward them. Caroline gasped as she saw who entered the room.

"Next time, just take my word for it when I tell you I saw someone," Stefan said lowly to her as he grimaced against one of the ropes that moved against his arm.

"Rebekah was this really necessary?" a very annoyed Elijah asked as he tore a sheet covering a piece of furniture and walked around to Stefan to begin untying the ropes.

Caroline felt her mouth grow dry as she stared at the originals standing before her. _Is this seriously happening?_

"They could be a threat so I treated them as such," Rebekah huffed at her older brother. "They are still not being forthcoming with their answers."

"I apologize for my sister," Elijah said tensely to Stefan, still working on the ropes. "You need to understand these are complicated times and we need to take certain measures to protect ourselves."

"Snapping my brother's neck and our own and tying us with ropes soaked in vervain. That's what you call taking certain measures?" Stefan asked in a tight voice.

Elijah finished untying Stefan and walked over to Caroline, beginning to work on her ropes.

"I will admit, these seem like drastic and unnecessary measures," Elijah added, glaring over at Rebekah.

"Oh come now Elijah, I tied them with bloody ropes I didn't bleed them out," Rebekah snapped.

"Niklaus will not be pleased," Elijah responded obviously annoyed.

"Must he know everything?" Rebekah answered with an eye roll.

Caroline was trying not to move too much so that the ropes would not rub against her skin anymore than they had too. It really burned but thankfully Elijah had already loosened some of the ropes. She was looking down at him untying the ropes tied around her legs, not daring to look at Rebekah because she knew she would not be able to resist from saying a snarky remark. All of a sudden she heard someone being smashed against the wall across from her.

"Are we keeping secrets from each other now Rebekah?" asked a deep voice that almost sounded like a growl.

Caroline felt like her heart jumped into her throat as she recognized the voice. She saw Elijah immediately stand up and felt him tense next to her. She slowly looked up, her body completely stiff and her mouth completely dry in anticipation of what she was about to see.

"Let her go," Elijah said calmly, his tone not matching his obvious tense and defensive body posture.

Caroline finally took in the scene before her. Rebekah was pinned against the wall by the throat by the original hybrid himself. _Klaus._ She saw him slowly turn and look at his older brother with a murderous glare before he looked at over at Stefan who was standing protectively next to her and finally down at her.

_This is really happening._

She was actually sitting before the original hybrid that had tried to earn her affections years ago after terrorizing all of her friends. The man that opened her eyes to the possibility of a life outside of Mystic Falls, the same man who made her battle with herself for years. And said man was currently staring at her like he could see into her soul and she could see the rage in his eyes.

Yes, Klaus Mikaelson was standing before her and he was livid.

_I'm definitely not dreaming this time…_

**Thanks for reading everyone! Sorry we didn't see Klaus until the end but we will definitely be seeing more of him & the other originals next chapter. If the Shane scene didn't make sense, don't worry, it will be explained more in the following chapters. Caroline's desires for the cure will also be brought up & focused on next chapters since the story mainly revolves around this point. Hope you guys liked the chapter & thank you for following the story! Please let me know what you guys think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much to blueberry55, MsCindz, Hazel21, iheartfillintheblank, Guest, & Klaroline4ever for the reviews! I truly appreciate them! Thank you also so much to everyone who followed and faved! I've been sick so didn't really have the energy to carefully check for mistakes so please forgive any errors! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

Caroline sat motionlessly, feeling as if she were stunned to her core by the events unfolding before her. She could not believe she had gone from burying her mother the day before to being essentially kidnapped by the original female vampire the very next day. _The originals are back in Mystic Falls…_

Elijah was standing tensely next to her, his body posture indicating he was ready to pounce. Rebekah was pinned against the wall by her throat by the most dangerous original of all: Klaus. _He's really here._

"Understand this _sister_," Klaus hissed, "If you ever try to go behind my back again I will dagger you and anyone else who tries to stand in the way without a second thought. Do I make myself clear?" he seethed.

He let go of her unceremoniously and turned to glare at Elijah who was still maintaining his tense and defensive posture. Klaus' face was contorted with rage.

"So this is what you meant when you said you and Rebekah would handle things here in Mystic Falls?" he spat at Elijah.

"I assure you brother, this is all a misunderstanding," Elijah said calmly though Caroline knew he was far from being calm.

"What are you doing here anyway Nik? You're supposed to be in New Orleans," Rebekah hissed angrily behind him. "Were you demented enough to leave Kol in charge with everything going on?"

Caroline watched nervously as she saw Klaus' vampire features take over his handsome face. She let out a small shriek as she saw Klaus turn and pounce on his sister as Elijah instantly joined in their struggle.

Once again, she did not have time to process what was happening as she heard Stefan grimace next to her as he quickly worked to remove the ropes still restraining her. In an instant, he had picked her up and ran at vampire speed away from the three originals. He did not stop running until they had put a good distance between them and the original's house.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his brow furrowed in concern as he looked down at her.

She looked down too and saw that her arms were still covered in burn marks. She was not healing as quickly as she should and she realized at that moment she had not fed for two days. She had also not fed properly since her mom had been rushed to the hospital the week before. It was all taking its toll on her.

"I'm fine. I'll be okay," she gasped, still trying to process everything that had just happened.

"Come on, let's get you home. You need to feed," he said.

She nodded and followed him as they both took off running at vampire speed back to her house.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Enough!" Klaus yelled as he threw Elijah across the room and saw Rebekah coming at him once more.

He pulled out a dagger from inside his pocket and held it directly above Rebekah's heart as he stopped her attack.

"Don't make me dagger you once more little sister," he snarled, his eyes still glowing yellow.

"Do it, you'll have Elijah and Kol to deal with," she hissed as she furiously blinked back tears.

"Niklaus put it down," Elijah said angrily behind him, his calm appearance all but gone.

Klaus laughed darkly as he looked at Rebekah enjoying the fear that he saw in her eyes behind her anger.

"You both lie to me and expect me to just let that go?" he said quietly, anger evident in his voice. "You know how I handle betrayal Elijah."

"We have not betrayed you Nik!" Rebekah spat. "All of this over what? Stefan and that pathetic cheerleader you shagged years ago?" she hissed venomously.

This was the last straw for Klaus. He growled and his fangs barely scraping against her neck when he felt himself pulled back and tossed across the room. He was instantly on his feet again looking at Elijah standing protectively in front of Rebekah, anger covering his face. This only fueled Klaus' rage and he was preparing to attack again when he took in Rebekah's expression. Despite her best efforts, she had tears streaming down her face and Klaus could see the anger, fear and disappointment that covered her features.

In that instant, Klaus felt shame replace his anger even if he would never admit this to anyone.

"You will both go back to New Orleans immediately," he hissed. "I will handle things here in Mystic Falls."

He did not wait for a response from them before he turned and rushed away using all the speed he could muster.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where the hell have you guys been?" Bonnie asked angrily as she saw Stefan and Caroline walk through the front door. "Oh my God Caroline what happened?" she asked a second later, concern evident in her voice.

"Nothing it was nothing," Caroline quickly said. "I need to feed."

She walked away toward the kitchen leaving a bewildered Bonnie standing in the hallway with Stefan.

"What happened?" Bonnie asked him.

"We ran into some trouble," he said tensely following Caroline into the kitchen.

"What kind of trouble?" Bonnie asked as she followed right behind him.

Caroline gripped the blood bag she was drinking even tighter and Stefan sighed and looked at Caroline.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her tensely.

"Better," she responded as she finished the bag.

_They're here. The originals are back in Mystic Falls. Klaus is back in Mystic Falls and he was probably going to kill his sister and maybe even Elijah…_

"Stefan should we have just left like that?" she asked worriedly as she realized how things had been when they left.

As much as she disliked Rebekah, she did not want Klaus to harm her or Elijah. Especially Elijah, he had instantly tried to help them out when he saw their situation.

"There isn't anything we could've done Caroline, we wouldn't stand a chance. My only concern was getting you out of there safely," he answered. "I'm sorry you were in that situation in the first place," he finished remorsefully.

"Again, what kind of trouble did you guys run in to?" Bonnie asked, anger once again rising in her voice.

Caroline looked at Stefan hesitantly.

"It was nothing serious Bonnie. Just some vampires that only wanted to cause trouble," Stefan answered looking straight at Caroline.

While she had been out after Rebekah had snapped her neck, Rebekah had told him how she had snapped Damon's neck as well while she waited for him and Caroline to return. Elijah had told Rebekah that Stefan had seen him.

"_No one was supposed to know about our return, least of all you lot," Rebekah had stated angrily. "But my dear brother slipped up and I'm afraid you have to pay the consequences although he is not entirely to blame. You did not have to go around asking about us and raising red flags for our enemies."_

"_Nobody knew but Caroline and myself," Stefan winced against the vervain ropes. "Not even Damon knew but seeing that you snapped his neck, he knows now too and it's only a matter of time before the others find out."_

"_Don't worry, my brother is taking care of your brother as we speak," Rebekah said with a smile that did not match the anger in her eyes._

_Stefan felt rage consume him instantly._

"_What did you to do Damon?" he asked angrily, fighting against the ropes that only burned him deeper with every move._

_Rebekah laughed._

"_After all he's done to you, you still care about him?" she asked incredulously. _

"_It's called loyalty Rebekah. You should understand better than anybody seeing as to how you continue to stick by your lunatic brother's side no matter how many times he's daggered you," he responded. _

_She looked at him angrily but did not say anything for a moment._

"_What were you asking about us?" she finally asked, the anger somewhat diminished from her voice._

"_What have you done with Damon?" he countered._

_She glared at him and flashed in front of him._

"_You forget I can compel you and find out everything I want to know. I know you and your little friends are no longer on vervain," she hissed._

"_What's stopping you? It's not like you Mikaelson's have had any problems compelling me in the past," he responded, anger seeping through his voice._

_Rebekah stepped back as if he had slapped her. She could hear the anger in his voice which was so unlike him. The Stefan she knew was calm and gentle. The Stefan she knew had also been compelled several times by her brother, having no regard for how this compulsion was affecting Stefan's life. The first time she had been angry with Nik for what he did but the last time she had known and stood by. She couldn't explain why but she felt ashamed all of a sudden._

"_Your brother is fine. Elijah is compelling him to forget I was ever there," she said looking away from him. "You and Caroline will be compelled to forget too as soon as we find out what we need to know" she finished, walking out of the room without a second look at him._

"What vampires?" Bonnie asked concern evident in her voice once more.

"Don't worry Bonnie, I'm taking care of this," Stefan said quickly. "Where is Elena?"

"She and Matt went to go look for you guys and Damon since nobody was answering her calls," she answered confused by everything that was happening. "Matt called a few minutes ago saying they were on their way back here."

"Good," he responded with a sigh. "Caroline can we talk privately for a moment?"

Caroline glanced at Bonnie who was looking at them suspiciously but turned back to Stefan nodding her head and following him out of the house. They stopped on the side of the house so that Bonnie would not be able to hear what they were saying.

"What is going on Stefan?" she asked completely confused and bewildered.

"The originals don't want anyone knowing they are back in town, including us" he said looking at her seriously. "I don't know what they're up to but they're definitely doing everything in their power to keep anyone from finding out."

"What are you thinking Stefan?" she asked knowing him all too well. He was worried.

"If they're going through all this trouble it can't mean anything good," he answered tensely.

"Always quick to jump to the worst conclusions about us," came a voice across from them.

Caroline sucked in her breath and felt her whole body tense as she saw Klaus walk slowly towards them with his hands behind his back and his usual smirk on his face.

_At least he doesn't seem angry._

"Do you really think that low of me and my family?" he asked, stopping right in front of them.

"It's kind of hard not to when history speaks against you guys," Stefan answered dryly.

Klaus rolled his eyes and turned to look at Caroline who was instantly sucked in by his gaze. She could not look away and part of her did not want to. Part of her wanted to reach out and have him hold her the way he had in her dream from the night before. As she stared into his eyes she recognized something as he looked away from her. She recognized that pain she had seen in his eyes the night before _in her dream._

"I think it best we talk somewhere a little more private," Klaus said looking at Stefan.

Stefan turned to look at Caroline, giving her a weary look.

"Fine," he said looking at Klaus before turning to look back at Caroline. "Tell everyone I had to take care of some things. I'll contact you later."

"There's no need Stefan, Caroline is coming with us," Klaus said simply.

Stefan tensed and Caroline felt herself tense as well.

"I'm sure whatever you need to know you can get from me," Stefan answered. "She stays."

"Don't worry Stefan I assure you no harm will come to her. You have my word," Klaus responded seriously looking him straight in the eye.

Stefan remained where he was looking at Klaus with a semblance of defiance.

"This is not up for discussion Stefan. Caroline is coming with us," Klaus said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"It's fine Stefan, I'll come," Caroline said quickly glancing between the two of them. "Let me just tell Bonnie-"

"I'm afraid that's not an option love," Klaus interrupted. "The less your friends know the better for everyone."

Caroline was opening her mouth to argue when she felt him grab her arm and rush away with her at vampire speed. She could hear Stefan behind them and knew that Klaus was not going as fast he could. After a few minutes, she recognized they were getting closer to his house. She felt him increase their speed and struggled to keep up. She almost screamed when she felt him pick her up in his arms picking his speed up further. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

After a few moments, she felt him stop. He looked down at her with a smirk on his face.

"Scared of a little speed love?" he asked amusedly.

She rolled her eyes and pushed herself off him but he put an arm around her waist and pulled her into him before she could walk away.

"What are you doing?" she asked nervously.

He didn't respond but remained staring at her intently. She met his gaze and felt that familiar feeling of being sucked in to his mesmerizing blue eyes.

"It's been too long love," he said with a low intensity in his voice.

It was her turn to stay quiet as she kept staring into his eyes. She saw that pain again.

He released her as they heard Stefan come up behind them.

"About time you joined us," Klaus smirked at Stefan but Caroline could see a hint of annoyance on his face.

Stefan looked at Caroline questioningly as they both followed Klaus into his home. Caroline shuddered as she remembered all too well her earlier visit to this house. She knew that the originals had physically fought but looking around the house you would never have suspected a thing. Everything was perfect and most importantly, all the sheets that had previously been covering the furniture were missing. Stefan looked over at Caroline as he noticed the same thing.

"I see you've uncovered your furniture," Stefan said. "How long are you planning on staying?"

"However long it takes," Klaus said turning to look directly at Caroline as he said this.

Caroline felt a shiver run down her entire body as she instantly recalled the last time she had heard him say these words. _"I intend to be your last. However long it takes."_

She quickly looked away but could she feel his gaze penetrating her and it took all her will power not to look up at him.

"So why are we here Klaus?" Stefan asked, pulling Klaus' attention away from her.

Caroline let out a small sigh, thankful that Stefan was here.

"Well it seems we have a bit of a situation on our hands," Klaus said with an annoyed undertone.

"What kind of situation?" Stefan responded.

"Oh please Stefan let's cut the games shall we? I am perfectly aware that you ran to your little friend to find out some information pertaining to our return here to Mystic Falls," Klaus said as he walked toward his bar to serve himself a drink.

Caroline quickly turned to look at Stefan and she could see the concern on his face. _How did he know that?_

"The question is, how much do you know?" Klaus asked as he slowly turned to look at both of them.

"How do you know about Shane?" Stefan asked tensely.

"Trust me Stefan, there is little I can't find out, especially when it is of interest to me," Klaus replied with a threatening undertone. "Don't worry old friend, no harm shall come to your friend on my behalf so long as he is not a threat. Now, I suggest you start telling me exactly what your little friend had to tell you."

"We didn't really find out much," Stefan answered honestly.

Caroline looked at Klaus and could tell by his expression that he did not believe Stefan.

"He's telling the truth Klaus. Whatever you guys are hiding, you're doing a damn good job of it," Caroline said.

Klaus looked at her and once again met her gaze for a moment before turning back to Stefan.

"So what did you find out exactly?" he asked suspiciously.

"We just heard that some ruthless groups of vampires are heading to Mystic Falls to get something they want from your family," Stefan answered honestly again.

Stefan knew there was no point in lying to him. Klaus did not trust anybody and could impulsively do something like compel him or Caroline to tell the truth. If he found out either of them lied to him, Stefan knew that Klaus could get brutally creative with his punishments. There was also a small part of him that did not want to see these groups hurt the originals.

"Pray do tell, what is this thing they want from us?" Klaus asked with a menacing edge to his voice.

"We don't know," Stefan replied looking at Klaus directly in the eyes.

"They're obviously lying," Rebekah huffed from behind Klaus.

Klaus instantly turned to glare at his sister.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed. "I thought I made myself clear when I said you were to immediately return to New Orleans."

"You don't own me Nik nor do you control me," she snapped. "So go ahead and dagger me if you want but I'm not going anywhere."

"Why are you here Rebekah?" he growled, anger covering his features.

"Elijah and I came out to eliminate this threat together. We couldn't do it alone. So be an ass but I'm not letting you do this alone," she answered fiercely.

"I don't need you," he shot back at her.

"Your greatest weakness is in thinking you have no weaknesses," she seethed. "You may not realize it yet but you do need us."

"She's right Niklaus," Elijah said as he stepped into the room.

Klaus groaned.

"We have some new information that could sway your opinion," Elijah added. "We can discuss it privately at a later time."

Elijah turned to look at Caroline and Stefan with an apologetic look.

"I am glad to see you both recovered well. I am sorry you had to be dragged into this," he said quietly.

He turned to look at Rebekah as they both exited the room.

"We will be waiting Niklaus," he said over his shoulder.

"Oh and Kol requests that his room be dusted before he arrives," Rebekah said with a smug smile before she disappeared.

Klaus quickly turned to look at her but she was already gone. Cursing out loud he walked to the bar and violently crashed his glass down causing it to shatter and send the pieces flying everywhere.

Caroline flinched and Stefan moved in closer to her protectively.

"It seems you have enough to deal with, maybe this is a good time for Caroline and I to leave," Stefan said looking over to Caroline.

"Don't be ridiculous," Klaus answered turning to look at them. "We are just getting started."

"We already told you what we know," Stefan answered creasing his forehead.

"I don't believe you," Klaus snarled.

"Then this conversation is a waste of time. If you don't believe what we told you before why would you believe what we'll tell you now?" Caroline answered angrily.

Even though she knew Klaus did have reason to be suspicious of them by looking at their history, she thought they were past that. She hoped they were past that especially given what had transpired between the two of them the last time she had seen him. _Maybe all he felt for me was lust after all._

Klaus glared at both of them before turning away and sighing wearily.

"It's hard to tell who you can trust nowadays," Klaus said with his back to them.

"We have no reason to want to hurt you or your family Klaus," Caroline answered honestly, some of the anger fading away.

"She's right. We don't have the best track record with each other but you guys have been gone and we've moved on," Stefan added a little tensely.

Klaus turned to look at both of them, his eyes landing on hers and Caroline saw that pain again but he quickly masked it.

"What do you know about these groups heading to Mystic Falls?" Klaus asked, turning away from them again.

"Nothing. We were just warned that they were dangerous," Stefan replied.

"Maybe as dangerous as your family?" Caroline asked, her voice laced in concern.

Klaus turned to look at her with an arrogant smirk.

"I highly doubt that love," he replied. "But I'll let you be the judge of that."

"So you guys are really going to stay here in Mystic Falls and battle it out with some gang of ruthless vampires?" Caroline asked trying to hide her concern.

The thought of the world's oldest vampire family on the warpath against a group almost as ruthless as them made her feel sick with worry. Mystic Falls was a small community. The chances of innocent people and her friends not getting caught in the crossfire were slim to none. For the first time since her mom died, Caroline actually found herself a little thankful that her mom was no longer here. She couldn't be hurt anymore. The thought brought tears to her eyes but she quickly blinked them away.

"Don't worry love, I give you my word that no harm will come to you," Klaus said looking at her intently. "Rest assured we will deal with this quickly."

Klaus scolded himself on the inside. _I am going soft._ Here he was trying to reassure Caroline. He knew she was concerned about the safety of her friends and if he knew her at all, he knew she was also concerned about the people of Mystic Falls. So here he was, trying to reassure her that they would deal with everything as quickly as possible to spare the lives of others. He was not the type to think about the lives of anyone save for his family, yet here he was thinking about the lives of the two vampires standing before him and the people they cared about.

Caroline eyed him and nodded slowly, somehow knowing he was being sincere.

"I think it's time we head back. Everyone will be waiting and worried that we just took off again," Stefan said quietly to her, breaking the silence that had fallen in the room.

They both looked over at Klaus.

"It would be best if you said nothing to your friends about any of this for now," he said to them.

He turned his gaze on Caroline for a moment before looking away. There was so much he wanted to talk to her about but he couldn't do it in front of Stefan. He heard them leave and thought about how quickly things had changed in a matter of a couple of days. He felt a small smile form on his lips as he remembered how Caroline had wrapped her arms around his neck when he picked her up and how she felt against his body when he pulled her in to him. He had missed her touch more than he could ever admit. It had taken just about all of his will power to keep himself from closing that small distance between them and tasting the sweet taste of her lips and tongue.

He sighed and shook his head as he thought about how much this blonde vampire affected him. She truly was a light that he surprisingly welcomed in the midst of all his darkness. He thought about the pain and sadness he seen in her eyes since he had returned and it pained him as well. She had lost some of her light in the midst of all her grief and this worried him. He needed her to keep her light. She was his light.

He finished his bourbon in one gulp and left in the direction of her house. He would wait until everybody was gone to talk to her. He needed to talk to her and this time he would not do so through a dream.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So you're really not going to tell us what is going on?" Elena asked angrily. "Where you guys keep sneaking off to?"

"We told you what we know," Stefan answered patiently, ignoring the second part of her question.

His response was not entirely true. He had told them about hearing rumors about dangerous vampires heading to Mystic Falls but he did not tell them who he heard this from and they completely left the originals part in this out for now. Caroline and Stefan both knew it was only a matter of time before the group found out what was really going on, but they hoped the originals would have something figured out by then.

"But who attacked you guys?" Matt asked concern covering his features.

Bonnie had filled them in on what she had seen heard, much to Caroline's dismay.

"I told you, we don't know who they were. They weren't from around here," Caroline lied quickly.

She sighed out loud and looked at her friends.

"Guys, I know you're worried but I think we're safe for now. Stefan and I were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," she lied again.

"But who's to say they won't start attacking people from town?" Matt asked impatiently. "We need to find out who they are and how to stop them."

"You don't need to do anything Matt. Let us handle it," Stefan answered. Before Matt could argue, he added," You're human Matt. The Gilbert ring can only protect you from so much. Trust me, I want this all taken care of as badly as you do but we need to think things through for a moment."

"Stefan's right Matt," Bonnie said. "I think I might know someone who can help us."

They all turned to look at her waiting for her to continue.

"I'll call you guys in the morning," she said grabbing her stuff and heading toward the door. She turned to look at Caroline right before she exited.

"Take care of yourself Care, you've already been through a lot this week," she said gently with a sad smile.

Caroline felt the tears sting her eyes and nodded trying to give her a small smile.

"Be careful," Caroline told her.

"Bonnie wait," Matt called out after her.

He walked over to Caroline and gave her a warm hug.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked looking down at her.

"I'm fine," she whispered with a small smile.

He looked at her unconvinced.

"Call me if you need anything. I mean it Care," he said gently.

"Thanks Matt," she answered, feeling the traitorous tears start to form in her eyes again.

He gave her one more concerned look before walking out after Bonnie.

She took in a deep breath to try to collect herself. This is exactly why she wanted to get away from them earlier. She loved her friends but their concern was overwhelming her. When she was with them she couldn't forget what her reality was. Right now, all she wanted was to forget. She needed an escape from this pain that was consuming her.

"I should check in on Damon," Stefan said looking over at her and Elena. "Will you two be ok here?"

"We'll be fine," Caroline answered him. "Promise me you'll be careful."

"I will," he answered with a small smile. "I'll call you both later to check in."

Caroline watched as Stefan headed out the front door, somewhat dreading being left here alone with Elena. She knew her friend was still angry about all of the day's events and even more so that they weren't telling her what was going on.

Elena sighed loudly and turned to look at her as soon as Stefan left.

"So you're sure you're okay?" she asked her tensely.

"I'm fine Elena. I'm a little shaken up about everything, but I promise you there's nothing wrong," Caroline tried to convince her.

Elena looked at her unconvinced but simply nodded.

"It's been a long day. I think I'm going to call it a night," she said walking toward the stairs without a second look at Caroline.

Caroline sighed, feeling guilty about how she was treating Elena. She could her shuffling around upstairs getting ready for bed and she thought about going upstairs and telling her the truth but decided it was better to leave things this way for now. She let herself fall back on the couch and sat there motionlessly, replaying everything that had happened that day. Part of her still didn't believe it had all been real. _Klaus is back…_

Caroline did not know how to feel about this. Part of her was worried and did not want him here, but a bigger part had felt a jolt of excitement she could not deny when she had first seen him. She had been incredibly disappointed when she had realized her encounter with him had only been a dream and all of a sudden, he was there in front of her. _What are the odds? _She thought about the feeling she got when he pulled her in to him and how she kept getting lost in his gaze every time he looked at her. That instantly brought her back to her dream from the night before. _I recognized the pain he had in his eyes. I had seen it before in my dream._

She wasn't sure at what point she started to drift but she was startled when she suddenly felt a warm hand gently caressing her cheek. She almost screamed when she recognized who was standing in front of her.

"What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want people to know you were back," she almost hissed. "Elena is upstairs."

"We need to talk," Klaus answered her seriously.

"What do you want to know now Klaus? We already told you everything we know," she said quietly, not wanting to wake up Elena. She looked toward the stairs half-expecting to see her friend standing there.

"That's not what I want to talk to you about," he replied calmly.

"So what do you want to talk about?" she asked curiously.

"I heard about your mother," he said quietly, keeping his gaze on her.

Caroline instantly felt the tears pool in her eyes.

"I don't see how that's any of your concern," she answered harshly, hating him for opening the floodgates to her pain as she thought about her mother.

"I'm not trying to cause you more pain love," he answered gently, placing a hand on top of hers. "But I am concerned."

She looked at him questioningly not trusting her voice enough to answer.

"You are full of light love but it's not hard to see you've lost some of it," he told her, an array of emotions covering his face.

Caroline looked away, not knowing what to say and furiously fighting to push back the tears.

"The cure isn't going to give you back what you've lost Caroline," he said in a tight voice as his gaze burned into her.

She gasped and instantly turned to meet his eyes. She felt overwhelmed by the emotions she saw in his eyes but there was one emotion that was dominant: pain.

"How did…last night…" she sputtered unable to form a coherent sentence.

She tore her hand away from his, standing up angrily. She felt him get up behind her.

"You were here last night!" she almost screamed.

She thought about the disappointment she had felt and it only made her angrier.

"I needed to talk to you," he quickly explained.

"Why are you here?" she asked angrily. "And how do you know about the cure?"

"As soon as I heard about your mother I had to come," he responded, keeping his gaze on her.

"Why?" she asked, fighting the feeling of meeting his gaze.

She could feel his gaze burning into her but she refused to look at him. She didn't want to feel what she knew she would if she allowed herself to really decipher what she was seeing in his eyes.

"You know why Caroline," he said lowly, stepping closer to her until their faces were only a few inches apart. "I made you a promise love."

She felt him wrap an arm around her waist and felt his other hand come up to cup her cheek, gently turning her face toward him until she finally met his gaze, the tears beginning to flow freely from her eyes.

"You also made me another promise," she reminded him quietly keeping her gaze on his, unable to break it.

"A promise I regretted as soon as I made it," he answered her fervently.

He caught some of the stray tears with his thumb, gently caressing her face. Despite her brain screaming at her, Caroline leaned in to his warm touch, relishing in the feel of his hand on her face and his arm around her waist. She had missed him and it suddenly scared her to realize how much she had craved his touch since the last time they had been together. Before she could think about this realization, she felt his lips brush against her cheek catching more tears. She looked up at him and suddenly felt a rush of emotions she could not and dared not identify.

He looked at her waiting for her to push him away but when she simply stood there looking at him, he took it as a silent approval and kissed the stray tears on her face once more, lightly working his way closer to her lips. He felt her shiver under his touch and that only spurned him on. He pulled her in closer and tightened his hold around her waist as he felt her bring up a hand to his face. The light touch of her fingers on his skin was enough to make him mad with desire. He looked at her fervently and saw that her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted in anticipation. He brought down his lips again to continue the trail he started and felt her suck in her breath when he kissed the corner of her lips. He felt he needed air at that moment too. She was finally in his arms again. He tilted his head and lightly brushed his lips with hers relishing in their feel. It had been far too long.

Just as quickly as their lips made contact, they both heard someone gasp loudly behind them causing them to instantly break apart. They both turned to see a very angry looking Elena standing on the stairway glaring at Caroline.

_This is seriously not happening…_

**Thanks for reading everyone! To clarify: yes, Kol is alive in this universe & Klaus and Caroline did hook up after he made that stupid promise about never coming back. Sorry, I'm still a little upset about how they're writing their storyline on the show but I digress for now. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, next chapter we see things pick up a little bit with the arrival of some new faces & Klaus addresses the cure situation. Let me know what you guys think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh my goodness I'm so sorry about the confusion with uploading the wrong chapter! *cringes in embarrassment* Thank you so so much to all who immediately brought it to my attention because otherwise who knows when I would have caught it :( I will definitely be sure to be more careful next time I promise! Thank you so much to MsCindz, Jackiezn, KlarolineKolenaDaroline, littlevictories25, & Ellavm18 for your reviews! It always makes me so glad to hear from you guys! Thank you also to everyone who followed & faved! You guys have no idea how happy it makes me to see those little notifications! Jackiezn, yeah Julie Plec really frustrates me like A LOT! But I try not to think about her so I don't get in a bad mood again lol. KlarolineKolenaDaroline, you & somebody else asked about Klaus' baby and nope, in this universe there is no Klayley baby. I really hated that storyline in the show so not bringing it in here. Sorry if that bothers anyone, I just wanted to take certain freedoms since the show is super frustrating at times with certain storylines. But anyway, here is the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy! As always, please forgive any errors!**

Caroline stood there feeling as if she was in a daze.

_This cannot be happening._

Standing next to her was the original hybrid that she had not seen in more than four years. The man who had tried to kill her twice and terrorized her friends years ago. This was also the same man who had somehow managed to get under her skin and show her his humanity. It was this man who she had been on the verge of kissing when she was caught by one of her best friends who was terrorized in the past by said man.

Standing in front her was this best friend glaring at her with a look that conveyed shock, anger, and hurt because of what she had just witnessed. Caroline wanted nothing more at that moment than to have the earth open up and swallow her whole. She felt the tension suffocating her as all eyes in the room were settled on her.

_Great, why couldn't tonight be the night I was dreaming? Then again, it probably wouldn't have made too much of a difference seeing as to how I was crying in his arms. How does he have this power to suck me in even in my dreams?_

She quickly shook her head and grudgingly brought her attention back to the situation at hand. You could cut the tension that had settled in the room with a knife.

"What the hell is going on?" Elena started angrily, her voice laced with venom. "Did you compel her?" she spat at Klaus.

Caroline heard Klaus let out a growl next to her, his face contorting with rage as his eyes narrowed in on Elena.

"Elena please, let's talk about this alone," Caroline quickly interjected.

Even if Elena had forgotten, Caroline knew Klaus was famous for his temper and she did not want Elena to be the subject of his wrath. She turned to look at Klaus who was still glaring at Elena.

"I'll let you know I don't have to steep as low as to compelling women to be with me. Everything Caroline has done with me has always been her decision," he hissed.

_Oh shit._

"Everything Caroline has done with you? What have you guys done?" Elena asked, a mixture of shock and anger evident on her features.

_Why does the universe hate me so much?_

"You never told them?" Klaus asked, turning to look at her. She could see the disappointment on his face and the bitterness in his voice.

"Told us what?" Elena asked loudly. She was getting angrier.

Caroline closed her eyes, hoping to will this situation all into a bad dream just like the night before. She had tried to tell Elena what had happened between her and Klaus but it turned out that she had unknowingly told Katherine instead and that turned out to be a complete disaster when Tyler found out. She shuddered at the memory of how he reacted and she was thankful that Stefan had been there to save her. After that fiasco, Tyler left, they got Elena back, and the only one of her friends that knew the truth was Stefan.

"Caroline?" Elena snapped, bringing her out of her thoughts.

She swallowed and looked down at her feet guiltily, unable to look at either one of them.

"There's a lot we need to talk about," Caroline said in a small voice.

She heard Elena take in a deep breath.

"Well start talking," Elena said angrily, crossing her arms so tightly in front of her chest Caroline was sure she wouldn't be able to untangle them.

"Not now Elena," she answered, quickly turning to look at Klaus who was taking turns between glaring at Elena and her.

"Don't need my help recounting all the intimate details love?" he asked bitingly.

With that, Elena rushed up the stairs at vampire speed and they could hear her moving things loudly in the bedroom.

"What the hell was that?" Caroline asked him angrily as she tried to go after Elena but was stopped when he flashed in front of her.

"You tell me," he snarled looking down at her.

"It wasn't your place to tell her anything!" she shouted.

"Were you really that ashamed of what we did that you never mentioned it to your friends?" he asked angrily but Caroline could hear the hurt in his voice and see it in his eyes. _Why does it matter so much?_

"I don't have time for this," she answered exasperatedly, moving to go around him but was stopped again when he wrapped his hand around her arm.

"Well maybe you can pencil me in sometime seeing as to how you'll have all the time in the world being an immortal and whatnot," he snarled, his blue eyes burning into hers.

She didn't have time to think about what he was telling her before he spoke again.

"I'm not giving you the cure. That's what I came here to tell you," he said seriously, his face devoid of any emotion. "Oh and do be sure that your little friend keeps our return a secret. I would hate to have to silence her myself."

With that he was gone, leaving Caroline standing alone, her mind buzzing from what had just happened, trying to make sense of everything as she felt the tears sting her eyes. She sat on the foot of the stairs as she replayed some of his last words in her mind and suddenly she was furious, growing even angrier as she felt the tears begin to run down her face.

"Caroline?" Elena asked tentatively behind her, anger still evident in her voice.

Caroline turned around quickly, trying to hastily wipe away the tears.

"Elena I'm really sorry," Caroline quickly started, trying to control her voice that was currently shaking.

"What did Klaus mean about not giving you the cure?" Elena asked curiously, a slight edge to her voice.

Caroline sucked in her breath. This is not how she wanted Elena to find out. This is not how she envisioned Elena finding any of these things out. She was mentally cursing Klaus as she looked down at her feet.

"Caroline just be honest with me for once," Elena said exasperatedly, hurt evident in her voice. "What did Klaus mean about the cure?"

"It's nothing Elena," Caroline almost whispered. "I just…ever since I found out about my mom I've been thinking and reconsidering some things."

"What kind of things?" Elena asked tentatively.

Caroline didn't answer and just kept her gaze on the floor.

"Caroline please talk to me. When did we start keeping all these secrets from each other?" Elena asked angrily, tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Elena please believe me, I never meant for you to find out this way," she apologized through tears.

"Which part? The part where you're sneaking around with Klaus? The terrible person who almost sacrificed you and Tyler, killed my aunt Jenna, forced Stefan to turn of his humanity, literally used me as a blood bag, tried to kill Jeremy, killed Tyler's mother, should I keep going?" Elena shouted, tears running down her face.

"I know Elena! I know! Don't you think I know all of these things?" Caroline shouted back.

"Do you Caroline? Because I have to think that if you _really _knew these things you would never take a second look at Klaus and be fooled by his charming lines. The Caroline I know would never knowingly be with the man who caused us nothing but pain and trouble since the moment he arrived in Mystic Falls," Elena screeched.

"Do you think this has been easy for me? Do you think it's been easy for me hiding this from you guys for all these years? Don't you think I hate myself for hiding this from you guys? For having some connection with this 'terrible person' who has caused nothing but trouble since the moment he walked into our lives?" Caroline screamed through tears.

"Maybe you need to consider why you have a connection with him. Maybe you two aren't as different as you think," Elena said, her voice laced with bitterness. "I'm going to spend the night at Bonnie's."

Caroline stood there, unable to move as she heard Elena walk out the front door. She sat back down on the step, wrapping her arms around her knees as she felt the sobs burst through her loudly. All of a sudden she felt overwhelmed by everything that had happened during the past two days. How would she put the pieces together? Where did she start? Her mom was gone, her friends were all going to hate her, Klaus was back and on the warpath and somehow he knew about her desire for the cure and was refusing to give it to her. This thought alone made the sobs grow louder and with greater force. She had started secretly considering what taking the cure would mean weeks ago and the more she thought about it, the more convinced she became she wanted it. But just like that, Klaus had shown up and taken that option away from her. _Or so he thinks._

Her thoughts went back to what had happened that night and Elena's last words. They hurt her more than she thought they ever could. In Elena's eyes, Caroline was just as bad as Klaus.

She got up slowly and walked back to the couch, curling up into a tiny ball, crushing her knees against her chest, trying to find some comfort and cried herself to sleep as she reflected on how her life was falling apart right before her very eyes.

Caroline woke with a start when she heard knocking on the front door. She wasn't sure what time it was but judging by the light streaming through the window curtains, it wasn't very early. The events of the previous night came rushing back to her and she groaned as she forced herself off the couch to open the door for whoever was waiting outside. She groaned again as she saw who the mysterious knocker was.

"Rise and shine Blondie," Damon said in typical Damon fashion, letting himself inside her house.

"What do you want Damon?" Caroline asked rudely. She was not in the mood to deal with him.

"Elena called," he started and stopped to look at her curiously when he noticed her immediately tense.

"What did she say?" she asked quickly and rolled her eyes as she saw Damon smirk.

"She called looking for Stefan, wanted him to come check on you," he explained with that same smug smirk. "What happened with you two?"

"None of your business actually. Where's Stefan? Why didn't he come?" she asked curiously.

"None of your business or mine apparently. He was gone before I woke up," he shrugged. "Why are you and Elena fighting?"

She sighed in exasperation and walked past him toward the kitchen. She groaned when she heard him follow her.

"You must've screwed up pretty badly for Elena to be pissed at you after you just buried your mom," he said behind her.

She turned to glare at him.

"How do you know I'm the one who did something?" she retorted defensively.

She knew she was the one who messed up by not telling Elena but she didn't want to admit this to Damon and much less talk to him about it. In fact, he was the last person she wanted to be talking to after the night she had.

"Because Elena would never leave you alone with all this crap you're dealing with," he answered. "And your refusal to answer any of my questions only confirms my suspicions," he smirked

"Maybe I just don't want to talk to you because I don't like you. Ever think about that?" she snapped.

He laughed.

"Look Blondie, I didn't come here to fight. Elena wanted someone to come check on you and I did," he replied.

"And now you can see yourself out. I have a lot to do today," she told him, her voice dripping in annoyance.

She gasped in surprise when he flashed in front of her.

"How long before we put the past behind us Caroline?" he asked her seriously. "It's obvious we're going to be in each other's lives for a while, shouldn't we bury the hatchet and move on?"

She laughed bitterly and walked past him.

"Maybe we won't have to be in each other's lives as long as you think," she said bitingly. "And it's easier to forget when you're not the one who was hurt because of somebody else's own selfish needs," she added bitterly.

She left Damon standing alone in the kitchen, both satisfied and surprised that she had left Damon speechless for once. She thought about the irony of her argument with Elena. Elena hated that Caroline could have anything to do with Klaus because of how he had hurt those around them yet somehow she could overlook all that Damon had done in the past. She could understand where Elena was coming from naturally. She still couldn't move past what Damon had done to her, so why should Elena move on so quickly and even she herself could not understand this connection she had with Klaus. _This is all so complicated._

She walked upstairs to her room tensely and sighed in relief when she heard him leave. She glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand and noticed it was well past noon and she sighed to herself as she realized she was getting a late start on all the things she wanted to do today. She pulled out her phone and called Elena, hoping they could talk things through before she told everyone else what she had learned. She was not surprised when she was greeted by Elena's voice message.

"Hey Elena, I was hoping we could talk later. I know you don't want to hear anything I have to say to you right now but I guess I'm holding on to the hope that you'll give me a chance to make things right. I'm sorry," Caroline said sadly into the phone.

She hung up and sat on the corner of her bed, getting lost in her thoughts for a long moment. How had everything gotten so complicated? She had done everything right. She had been an excellent student in high school, was actively involved in the school and community, she had made plans for her life. But somehow she had been sucked into the world of the supernatural against her will. Nobody asked her if this is what she wanted, she just woke up one day and realized the decision had been made for her. Thanks to Stefan she had managed to adapt and eventually embrace her life as a vampire. She liked being strong and fearless but she still wanted that life she had always planned so she set out to do those things. She went to college, she traveled, she dated stupid boys looking for "Mr. Right," but somehow she found herself sitting alone on her bed. Her mother was dead and she was now alone. Caroline closed her eyes and tried to hold back the tears as she recalled how her mother had refused to be turned into a vampire so that she could live even though Caroline had desperately begged her to.

"_It's not the natural order of things honey. We were born as mortal beings, meant to live and die one day. We should wake up everyday thankful for every breath we take, never taking any moment for granted because we don't know if it will be our last. Every moment counts even if we don't realize it. You learn to take risks and if you're wise you learn to forgive quickly because you know life is too short to hold on to grudges. Maybe one day you meet someone and fall in love, get married and start a family of your own. If you're lucky you get to grow old and see your children grow up and become the individuals you always knew they could be. In a way we all live on through our children and their children and their children after that. In that sense we live on even after we are gone so in the end, we are the true immortals."_

It was this conversation that had made Caroline begin to question her immortality. These were all things Caroline had wanted in the past but had been taken away from her. Her mother had clung to her humanity until the last possible second. By the time Caroline had arrived back in Mystic Falls, Liz was in really bad shape. The doctors had told her it was only a matter of weeks and yet Liz had refused to drink vampire blood and be turned. Just like her father, her mother had chosen death over becoming what she was. If her own parents hated what she was, how could she embrace it? She sat on her bed a moment longer, feeling the tears land on her knees and felt them dry before she finally got up and started getting ready to take on her to-do list for the day. First on the list was meeting with a certain hybrid. He would not make that decision for her without a fight.

Sometime later, Caroline found herself pulling into the Mikaelson's large driveway, hoping he was home alone so they could discuss things privately. _Hopefully at least Rebekah is gone._ After what had happened the day before, Caroline was in no rush to meet with original blonde vampire she disliked so much. She slowly got out of her car and walked toward their front door, trying her best to appear confident even though inside she was feeling sick. She knocked firmly on the door and waited.

"Well that was fast, I didn't expect you to pencil me in so quickly sweetheart," Klaus said sarcastically as he opened the door.

He was obviously still angry about the night's events.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked in the same tone.

"I need to talk to you," she answered with as much confidence as she could muster.

"I know why you're here and my answer remains the same. I will not give you the cure Caroline," he said darkly, glaring at her through his blue eyes that appeared cold and distant.

"How did you even know that I wanted the cure?" she asked both curiously and angrily.

He simply shrugged.

"It doesn't really matter, they're all just details really. The important thing here is that I'm not giving it to you," he answered coldly.

"Can we please just talk about this like two adults?" she asked angrily.

"I see no point, I've already made my decision. Besides, you wouldn't want your little friends to catch you here and give you one more thing to be ashamed of," he sneered, anger covering his features.

She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was obviously still angry and when he got like this, it was basically impossible to get anywhere with him.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way," she started but was interrupted.

"Oh rest assured you did not hurt me sweetheart, just simply disappointed. But I guess I should be disappointed with myself really. I always thought of you as too confident to care about what other people think and as being more honest but obviously I gave you too much credit," he said coldly, his gaze burning into her.

"Of course I care about what they think Klaus they're my friends and you made their lives a living hell for your own selfish reasons! They have every reason to hate you and to hate me for having this connection with someone who is capable of such horrible things! I knew that and I know that now, that's why I didn't tell them. Tyler literally tried to kill me when he found out what happened-"

"He did what?" Klaus growled, his face contorted with rage.

If Caroline thought he was angry before…

"That doesn't matter now, what matters is that I betrayed my best friends for you and I knew they were all going to hate me for what I did and now they will. Elena already does. Do you know what she told me last night? That maybe I should think about why I have this connection with you because just maybe we're not so different after all," Caroline finished, hating herself for the tears she felt dangerously close the brim of her eyelids.

Klaus stood silently for a moment before he brought up her chin to meet his gaze. It was kinder than it had been moments ago.

"You are nothing like me love. You are full of light, don't ever doubt that," he said in a surprisingly gentle voice.

She was surprised when he released her and stepped back so that she could come in. She hesitated for a second before following him inside. Neither one said anything as he walked straight to his bar and poured two drinks. He handed her one and walked away toward the fireplace, his back turned to her. She stood silently, not sure what to say to him. She knew what she wanted but he had made it clear that he wasn't going to hand it over to her.

"Tell me something Caroline," he started, his voice void of any emotions. "Do you regret what happened that day in the woods?"

She felt the color rush to her cheeks as she looked down. Physically, no she did not regret a single instant of that day. The very thought of that day still made heat rush to her core and left her with an aching desire for more. Mentally and emotionally however, she had no idea. She was still confused and had no idea how to make sense of the whole thing, He was Niklaus, the big bad original hybrid who had done so damage in the lives of everyone she loved. But for some reason, he had shown her he was capable of so much greater, that deep down he retained some humanity and was capable of being saved. She hated that she had seen that because once she did, she knew she would not be able to turn away.

"I don't know," she answered finally. "I didn't think about it more than I had to. Nobody knew about it except for Stefan so it was easy to avoid. I didn't think I would ever see you again so I didn't think it was something I needed to figure out just then."

He slowly turned to look at her, an array of emotions in his eyes.

"You still feel that connection between us," he said with an unrecognizable undertone in his voice. It was not a question.

"What?" she asked a little confused.

"You said your friends will hate you for having this connection with me," he said in that same tone before he flashed in front of her and cradled her face in his hands.

"I know you felt it last night," he whispered into her ear and smiled slightly as he felt her shiver, "You feel it now."

He didn't wait for her to respond or give her a chance to pull away. He brought down his lips to meet hers ardently, burning with desire. He had craved the feel of her lips against his since the last time they had been together and these last few days had been overwhelmingly frustrating for him being so close to her and not being able to hold her and taste the sweet taste of her mouth and lips. He half-expected her to push him away when he felt her hesitate for a moment but soon enough, he felt her tangle her hands in his curls, pulling him in closer. _How he had missed this._

He brought down one arm to wrap it around her waist tightly, bringing her impossibly close, tangling his other hand in her long blonde curls. He could feel the curves of her perfect breasts flush against his chest which only drove him even more mad with desire. He wanted to feel every inch of her skin against his, feel the heat that coursed through his skin at the slightest touch from her. He stroked her bottom lip with his tongue, silently begging for permission to enter and almost moaned in delight whens she acquiesced. He felt the bulge in his pants grow as his tongue tangled with hers, tasting and growing reacquainted with each other after so many years.

She moaned as she felt his tongue explore every inch of her mouth and felt this sudden need to have him closer though she didn't see how that would be possible. She almost complained when his lips left hers only to have him attack from her jawline down to her neck with hot kisses that almost made her legs buckle. She gasped as she felt him grip her bottom and lift her up against him and she responded by quickly wrapping her legs tightly around his waist. In this position she could feel the bulge in his pants which, in combination with the hot kisses he was pressing against her collarbone and neck, caused the heat to rush to her core with such force she thought she might give out right there. She had missed this more than she could ever admit. Sure she had sex in the past but it was different with Klaus. He was the first person where it didn't feel like it was just sex, their connection was far more than physical and this terrified her.

Needing to feel her lips again, he quickly crushed his lips against her own, savoring her sweet taste as he sucked on her bottom lip and slid his tongue in her mouth again. He was hard for her and didn't know how much longer he would be able to hold out. He felt her tongue enter his mouth and explore every inch of his mouth as well, claiming it as her own and he quickly rushed them against a wall, crashing a little more forcefully than he intended. He pulled back to see if she had been hurt but she quickly pulled his head back down to hers, attacking his lips with fervor and he knew she must be in the same state he was in. He smirked against her lips as he felt her begin to tug at the hem of his shirt.

Without releasing her, he pulled back enough to quickly pull his shirt over his head before returning his lips back to hers while making quick work of her jacket and flimsy shirt she was wearing. He heard her groan in disapproval when he literally ripped her shirt off her but she quickly seemed to get over it when he brought down his lips to kiss the top of one breast while his hand explored the other. He heard her sigh as she let her head fall back against the wall while she let one hand explore his bare back and the other remained tightly tangled in his curls.

"Oh good God Nik! Get a room!" Rebekah screeched behind them.

Caroline yelped and brought down her head to Klaus' shoulder to hide her face that was probably five shades deeper. She heard Klaus groan in frustration as he slowly put her down but kept his arms wrapped around her waist, pressing her to him and shielding her from Rebekah's view.

"What do you want Rebekah?" Klaus hissed angrily.

"Elijah and I need to talk to you seeing as to how you didn't come home last night but I think the mystery of what or who you were doing has been solved," she sneered.

Klaus let out an angry growl and glared at his sister.

"Tread carefully sister lest you want another dagger in your heart," he hissed.

"Yes of course, how can I forget the infamous dagger threats?" she replied sarcastically. "When you two are finished, you might one to join us. Do remember the reason we came to Mystic Falls Nik."

Klaus growled in frustration at his sister's uncanny ability to ruin things for him. Leave it to one of his siblings to ruin a moment like this after so many years of him being only able to fantasize about this moment. Truthfully, he had not been sure he would ever get another opportunity to feel her and taste the sweet taste of her tongue and mouth again but he certainly hoped that he would. For once, his hopes had not been in vain.

After last night, he was not sure how to feel about Caroline. He was angry and hurt that she hid what happened between the two of them, almost like it had been a cheap one-night stand, nothing more than a mistake but he could not bring himself to admit that to her. Klaus was not hurt by _anybody._ That was far from being the case for him. He often found himself thinking back to that fateful day with bittersweet thoughts. He had basically put the ball in her court when he promised her he would never return and he had no choice but to hope that she would turn up at his door like he had told her so many times. It seemed like that day would never come but life had other plans when he heard about her mother. As soon as he heard the news about her mother's death, he knew he would have to break his promise to her for the sake of a bigger promise, the one he truly cared about. He knew he had to be there for her but more importantly, he _wanted _to be there for her. He could not recall the last time he had actually wanted to be there for someone else. When he found out that she had tried to keep what happened between them a secret, he felt rejected and confused and decided to some space between them until he could figure out what he should do. He had definitely not anticipated this pleasant turn of events.

He noticed Caroline was avoiding his gaze and he stepped back slowly away from her. Caroline moved to retrieve her jacket from the floor after looking at her shirt that was torn and tossed carelessly on the floor. She took one look at it and knew she would not be able to repair it. She zipped up her jacket as Klaus put his shirt back on. She looked away nervously feeling severely confused by what had just happened and how she had allowed it to get that far. How far would it have gotten if they hadn't been interrupted? She chastised herself for having no self-control; she should have put a stop to it as soon as he kissed her. Elena currently hated her for doing this very thing with Klaus and here she was about to give in again. She had not come here with these intentions. She had come here to get him to reconsider the cure.

"Klaus," she started, not sure how to address the situation. "I didn't come here…what just happened-"

"It's alright love we don't have to talk about it right now," he interrupted her quickly. He did not want to hear her say it was a mistake and couldn't happen again. He knew it wasn't and he _really _wanted it to happen again.

He heard her sigh behind him.

"Klaus what I actually came here for was-" she started but was interrupted again.

"I know why you're here love," he said tensely. "Answer me one thing and be honest with me Caroline. Why do you want the cure?"

"It's complicated," she responded quickly.

"Give me one reason," he insisted.

"I want my life back. The life I planned ever since I was a little girl, the life my parents wanted for me, the life I wanted," she said in a tight voice. "This isn't something I ever wanted, I never asked for this, I was just thrust into this life."

"Nobody wanted this life sweetheart but you learn to live with it, accept it, embrace it and soon you discover all the possibilities immortality has to offer," he said moving closer to her.

"I don't need to be immortal to experience different things Klaus and I know what I want," she tried to argue but stopped when he cradled her face in his hands again and she felt that familiar shiver run down her spine.

"I think you're using the idea of the cure as a crutch, an escape to your pain, a solution to all your problems," he said in a low voice as his gaze met hers. "But it's just an illusion Caroline. Taking the cure and becoming human again will not bring your mother back, it will not make your friends hate you any less, it won't take away any of your pain. You will still experience the pain that comes with losing those close to you. You had plans for a human life when you were a human Caroline but you are not that girl anymore. You need to adjust your perception to that of a vampire sweetheart and quit living your life by human conventions," he said in a gentle voice.

She did not know what to say. She was mesmerized by his gaze and the different emotions she saw in his eyes. She sighed as she felt him press his lips against her forehead lightly.

"Why don't you give me the option? Why do you have to make the decision for me?" she asked him, some anger evident in her voice.

He sighed and slowly stepped back away from her.

"You claimed to care about me once. If you still care for me even in the slightest, then let me make this decision. Respect me enough to give me the choice," she argued, tears forming in her eyes.

He stayed silent for a long moment, his back toward her, before he finally turned to look at her, and odd intensity in his stare.

"I'll make you a deal Caroline," he started. "I will give you the cure if you truly want it on the condition that you give me one year to show you all the possibilities that life as an immortal has to offer," he finished staring directly in her eyes almost as if he could see straight into her soul.

"What?" she asked both bewildered and confused. "I'm not going to wait a year Klaus."

"What's one year love?" he asked with a smirk that did not match his serious tone. "Scared I might convince you?"

She fought to look away from his gaze but was unable to.

"Why are you doing this?" she almost whispered.

She let out a small gasp as he brought his hands up to her face again and he looked at her as if she was the only thing he could see.

"I made you a promise and I intend to keep it…however long it takes," he said gently.

Caroline felt the tears sting behind her eyes and she closed them as she felt him press his forehead against hers. It was such an intimate moment and Caroline felt herself wishing it would not end anytime soon.

"What do you say love?" he whispered, his warm breath mixing with hers.

Caroline stood silently for a long moment, not sure what to say. She knew this would be the best compromise she would get from him but that wasn't what bothered her. She knew this went far beyond the cure. She was essentially agreeing to spend a whole year with him or around him. What would this mean for her and her friends? Would he only try to convince her to not take the cure? Something deep down told her that was far from being the case and this thought both terrified and excited her but she quickly tried to shove these thoughts aside. She needed to focus on one thing at a time and right now her focus was the cure. She took in a deep breath and finally answered.

"You have a deal," she whispered.

_Oh Caroline, what are you getting yourself into?..._

**Thanks for reading everyone and I'm so sorry again about all the confusion with uploading the wrong chapter! Don't worry I have already smacked myself upside the head!lol I'm also sorry that this chapter didn't include the arrivals I promised last chapter but it was getting too long so I split it into two and decided to post what I already had written. Next chapter we will see the arrivals I promise! Anyway, please let me know what you guys think, I love hearing from you guys!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much to Hazel21 and Luana for the reviews and to everyone who followed and faved! Haha yes Hazel21 **_**a lot **_**can happen in a year and if we know one thing about Klaus is he doesn't stop until he gets what he wants ;) Luana I was so excited to read that you follow my story all the way from Argentina! I'm curious do you translate the chapters through google? I'm just so excited you guys like the story so far! Sorry again for the big mix up last time everyone! I accidentally uploaded a chapter from my other story and yeah, that's what happened but again, thanks so much to everyone who immediately let me know! Please forgive any errors!**

* * *

Caroline pulled into her driveway feeling an odd sense of loneliness at the thought of having to be alone for the first time since her mother died. Elena had stayed with her for the past few weeks which had brought her a sense of comfort Caroline had not realized until right then.

_I guess it's true when they say you don't realize how much you appreciate something until it's gone._

She let out a long sigh, frustrated with how everything was going. She had just lost her mother, she had lost Elena, and she had essentially agreed to be around Klaus for an entire year. Yeah, that was sure to go over real well with her friends when they found out. The thought of the rest of her friends finding out about her past with Klaus was also unnerving. She wasn't ready face to their judgment just then…if ever. She had half a mind to drive off and leave Mystic Falls and everything in it behind right then and there. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw someone standing right next to her car window.

"What the hell Stefan?" she yelled, clutching her chest and getting out of the car.

"Sorry, didn't realize I would scare you. I've been trying to call you for the last hour," he said apologetically.

She looked away guiltily. She had ignored two of his calls because she had been driving around aimlessly after leaving Klaus' house, trying to process what she had just agreed to.

"_I should go, I'm sure Stefan will be wondering where I am," she said sheepishly, refusing to make eye contact with him._

_She sucked in her breath as she felt him gently tilt her chin up._

"_I'll be seeing you later sweetheart. We have much to discuss but I'm afraid time is not on our side at the moment," he said with a smirk though she could see the intensity in his eyes._

_Too dumbfounded to say anything, she simply nodded her head and tried to step away but was stopped as he gently held grabbed her arm and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek that caused her to involuntarily shiver. She felt his smile against her cheek and she found herself internally cursing her body for being so receptive to his touch._

"_One more thing, be careful out there love" he said suddenly serious. _

_She simply looked at him confused by his sudden ominous warning and again nodded her head before leaving._

"Sorry, I've been a little busy this morning," she answered, subconsciously zipping up her jacket a little more so as not to reveal she was only wearing a bra underneath.

"I spoke to Elena," Stefan said, giving her a pointed look. "I didn't realize Klaus was paying you late night visits."

She let out a sigh.

"It's not like that Stefan," she said, instantly feeling guilty as she remembered what had transpired between her and Klaus earlier that day. "Who else is Elena telling?"

"She hasn't told anybody else, she assumed I would know," he explained.

Caroline felt oddly relieved by this news. As angry as Elena was, at least she was still keeping her secret for now.

"So care to explain what last night was all about?" Stefan asked with an arched eyebrow.

Caroline let out another sigh as she looked up at her friend. She was thankful to not see any judgment or anger there, simply curiosity and concern.

"Klaus came to see me because…he knows about the cure," she finished slowly, watching him closely for a reaction.

"How does…"Stefan started.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised, they're freaking originals after all," she said with a slight eye roll. She was determined to find out how he had found out about her desire for the cure.

"So what did he say?" Stefan asked curiously. "Did you ask him for it?" he finished the last part in a lower voice.

"He basically made me an offer," she said honestly, not wanting to lie anymore than she had to her friends.

He simply looked at her waiting for her to continue.

"I have to wait one year. If I still want the cure in one year than he'll give it to me," she said tensely, a little nervous for his reaction.

She saw the shock cover his features, which was quickly replaced by the confusion.

"I've known Klaus for a long time and I must say I'm very shocked to say the least…the cure is something that's extremely valuable I'm surprised he would just willingly hand something like that over unless there was something in it for him…"he trailed off suddenly looking at her with furrowed eyebrows. "There is something in it for him isn't there?"

"Not exactly," she said sheepishly, looking down at her feet.

"Caroline what did you promise him?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Nothing bad, I didn't promise him my firstborn or anything. I just promised him I would..." she trailed off, not sure how the rest was going to sound.

"That you would?" he said.

"That I would give him the opportunity to convince me not to take the cure," she said quickly, feeling the color rushing to her cheeks.

He stayed silent for a moment.

"And how exactly does he intend to do that?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "He said he was going to show me all the opportunities that an immortal life has to offer."

She looked at his expression, seeing how his eyebrows were dangerously close to disappearing into his hairline.

"So are you trying to tell me that you're going to be hanging out around Klaus for…a year?" he asked seriously.

She reluctantly nodded her head.

"Do you really want the cure that badly Care?" he asked, his voice a mix of tension and sadness.

She swallowed and nodded her head.

"It's what I want Stefan. I mean, I like being strong and confident but I don't think I need to be a vampire to be those things. I want to live a normal life and when it ends it ends, just how it was always meant to be and if Klaus is my only shot at that life than so be it," she said softly.

He sighed and looked at her sadly.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this Caroline but you know Klaus has no intention of giving you that cure right?" he asked seriously.

"He gave me his word. We made a deal. He has one year after which he has to hand it over," she said confidently.

"You really trust him to come through with this don't you?" he asked curiously.

"I do. I know he's evil hybrid Klaus and everything but we've both seen a compassionate side to him too and I'm appealing to that side to help me get the cure," she said softly. "He's not all bad Stefan, it would be so much easier to hate him if he was."

"I know. It seems to be a family trait I suppose," Stefan said softly. "And you seem to have a way of bringing out that compassionate side so I really hope you're right about this. I would hate to see you be disappointed at the end of all of this."

"Me too," she said in a low voice.

Stefan looked over at her torn between his thoughts. Part of him didn't trust Klaus to actually hand the cure over to Caroline simply because she still wanted it at the end of the year, but part of him, the selfish part, was hoping Klaus would not live up to his word and give Caroline the cure. He had lost Lexi in the past, he didn't want to have to lose Caroline too. He shook his head, scolding himself for being so selfish. This was Caroline's decision, it was anyone else's to make.

"So where were you this morning? Damon said you left pretty early without letting anyone know where you were going," Caroline asked curiously next to him, bringing him out of his thoughts.

He let out a long sigh and looked up at her, concern written all over his face.

"We should probably not talk about this out in the open," he said in a low and serious voice.

She looked at him with a curious expression and led the way inside her house. To say Stefan was making her anxious was an understatement, he was only cryptic like this when things were serious.

"So what's up?" she asked turning to face him.

She heard him sigh next to her, his forehead creased with concern.

"What is it?" she asked again, her mind jumping to the worst possible conclusions.

"I'm worried about what the originals are hiding here in Mystic Falls," he answered her seriously.

"Well I mean I figured they weren't hiding rainbows and daisies, it's probably something powerful and by extension dangerous," she said. "What did you find out?"

"Whatever it is they are hell bent on protecting it. One of Klaus' hybrids attacked me outside of the old Lockwood cellar," he answered her seriously. "He said they had strict orders to eliminate anyone who was doing any snooping around."

"Wait hold on. You were attacked this morning and you didn't say anything until now?" she almost screeched. "And Klaus' hybrids are back? I thought he slaughtered them all at ironically, the very place you were attacked today."

"Well now that Klaus is back I can't exactly say I'm surprised that his hybrids are too," Stefan answered in a tight voice, continuing as he saw her open her mouth again, "And I'm fine Caroline. Being an older vampire has its advantages sometimes."

"You killed one of his hybrids?" she asked a little tensely. "I'm sure Klaus isn't going to be thrilled, I can't imagine he has too many hybrids lying around and now that Elena is a vampire it's not like he can exactly make more."

"I'll deal with Klaus when the time comes," he answered her simply.

"Yeah because that went over very well the last time you two had a pissing contest," she said tensely as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"This isn't like last time Caroline and besides, weren't you the one who was just telling me that Klaus isn't all bad and are appealing to his compassionate side? I can appeal to that side too," he said with a hint of a smile.

She let out a frustrated laugh. She wasn't sure just how much more she could handle.

"What are we going to do Stefan?" she asked seriously, referring to the entire situation.

"Figure it out the way we always do," he answered as he walked over to put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "First I need to know what they're hiding here that they don't want anyone to know about."

"Are you serious? Trying to get that information is what could've gotten you killed this morning!" she said loudly.

"We need to know what we're dealing with Caroline. This vampires are coming whether we like it or not, we need to prepared. I know the originals said they're handling it but I don't trust them enough to just sit back and twiddle my thumbs while a group of ruthless vampires make their way into town," he explained seriously.

She knew Stefan had a point, they needed to know what they were dealing with but it didn't change the fact that she didn't like it. As she stood there looking at Stefan she knew that it was only a matter of time before they would all have to pick a side in this battle and hope they didn't get caught in the cross-fire.

* * *

"So may I ask what is so bloody important you two felt the need to stay behind in Mystic Falls and force me to come down to this wretched place?" Klaus asked angrily as he looked at the old Lockwood cellar. He despised this place with every fiber in his being.

"Oh you're just upset because I interrupted your little tryst earlier with that insufferable cheerleader," Rebekah said with a smug smile.

Klaus turned on her to respond when Elijah interrupted him.

"We heard rumors about there being traces of a white oak stake," Elijah said seriously, looking at the both of them.

"How?" he asked suddenly more furious than before. "We destroyed them the last time we were here."

"Obviously we missed one," Elijah answered as he kneeled down and took a small pile of dirt in his hand and brought it before him.

Klaus inspected the small pile closely and almost immediately noticed the ashes of a white oak stake.

"There was definitely a white oak stake here at some point and as far as I'm aware, none of us destroyed one here?" Elijah said looking at the both of them.

Rebekah rolled her eyes and shook her head while Klaus stood there seething. Hadn't he been told that they had gotten the last of the white oak stakes? He was going to have to pay the Mystic Falls 'scooby' gang a visit soon.

"I fear our enemies know about this missing stake or remnants of it," Elijah added seriously.

Klaus hissed in anger.

"They're prepared to do anything to take us down and I have reason to suspect that somebody here in Mystic Falls is helping them," Elijah said tensely.

"Who?" he growled, rage coursing through his veins. He would kill whoever it was without a second thought.

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer just yet but rest assured I will find out," Elijah said with an edge to his voice.

"When you do, you are to leave them to me is that understood?" he hissed angrily.

Klaus turned away in his fury, wanting nothing more than to hunt and kill something as slowly and painfully as possible.

"Niklaus," Elijah called stopping him in his tracks, much to his chagrin. "It appears we were mistaken. They are not coming for the cure, they are coming for _him_."

Klaus froze and turned on his heel to face his brother.

"What did you say?" he whispered, a frightening menace to his voice.

"They are coming for him Niklaus. They know he is in Mystic Falls and that is why they are coming." Elijah added seriously, that same edge to his voice as before present.

"Would you care to tell me how in the world our enemies are finding out so much information about our concerns?" he seethed.

Both Elijah and Rebekah looked as angry and concerned as he but neither one seemed to have any answers.

"We need to start by finding out who here is working with them," Elijah responded after a moment.

"Should we go question every bloody person in town or do you have any ideas as to who this person might be?" Klaus asked through gritted teeth.

"I spoke to one of your hybrids. It seems there was an incident with one of them earlier today," Elijah said tensely. "This could serve as a starting point for us."

"Enough with the theatrics Elijah get on with it," Klaus hissed, his blood boiling at the thought of losing another hybrid. He didn't exactly have an unlimited supply of them.

"It appears one of your hybrids was killed earlier today after he confronted another vampire who was investigating around this cellar," Elijah answered seriously.

"Who?" Klaus demanded, already plotting several ways to torture this poor idiot.

Elijah hesitated for a moment.

"I think it's best you let me deal with them Niklaus," he said tensely after a moment.

"Now where is the fun in that dear brother?" Klaus snarled.

"You are angry and we both know you are from rational when you are like this," Elijah insisted. "I cannot risk you hurting an innocent without us having all the facts."

"Oh come Elijah I'm sure you are employing the word "innocent" far too liberally," Rebekah snapped next to him. "Who is it?"

Elijah tensed his jaw as he took in both of his siblings who looked absolutely murderous at the moment.

"Come now brother I thought you said I could trust you? I find that hard to believe if you are keeping secrets," Klaus said in a menacing voice.

"It was Stefan Salvatore. It appears he has been investigating the circumstances of our return and his friend Shane has been supplying him with more information than we originally thought," Elijah said tensely. "I believe we should go talk to him and find out what he knows," Elijah added tensely.

Klaus growled and angrily turned away from his siblings. Why did Stefan insist on meddling with this affair? Was he being completely honest in sharing all the information he knew? He turned to look at his brother and sister who were eyeing him expectantly.

"I think you're right Elijah. It's about time the Mikaelson's made certain house visits and let some of the residents of Mystic Falls know how serious we are about keeping our affairs private," he told them with an edge to his voice. "We should start with this Shane person. It seems he knows more than we anticipated and I want to know how he's getting his information and more importantly, who he's been sharing this information with."

"And what of Stefan?" Rebekah asked him.

He sighed in frustration, still not sure what to make of Stefan. Could he really be trusted?

"I'll deal with him later," he said darkly as he walked out of the cellar, thankful to finally be out of that place he hated so much.

He made his way back to his SUV, his siblings close behind him when they all suddenly stopped as they saw who was standing by the car.

"Well, well, well look who the cat dragged back into town. I knew my little brother was hiding something when he started acting all dodgy, Caroline was being shady too, and as soon as I saw one of your hybrids, it all kind of seemed to come together," Damon said with a snarky smile as he slowly over to one side of the car. "I think I should pick up a career in solving mysteries, I think I have a knack for it wouldn't you agree?"

"I think in order to pick up a career or to use your words "think," you would have to have at least some semblance of intelligence which you obviously don't seeing as to how you came here to confront three originals entirely on your own," Klaus answered with an evil smirk.

"As I tried to tell your hybrid, I didn't come here looking for a fight. I came here for some answers such as why the hell are you all back in Mystic Falls and why are you hanging around the creepy Lockwood cellar?" Damon asked the three of them. "Looking for a place to retire or simply looking to commit another slaughter?" he asked sarcastically.

Klaus let out an angry growl but before he could even make a move, they all heard Damon's neck snap and watched as his lifeless body fell to the ground before turning their attention back to the other original who was standing with a pleased smirk on his face.

"I never did like that nosey prick," Kol said with a smug smile. "It's nice to see you all are managing to keep our return a secret."

Klaus rolled his eyes and stepped over Damon's body as he made his way to the driver's side of his car. As he came around the side, he hissed in anger when he saw another one of his hybrids on the ground, his heart next thrown carelessly next to him.

"Be sure to grab the eldest Salvatore," he said over his shoulder to his siblings. "It would be very rude of us to have him wake up and leave him wondering where we were," he finished menacingly as he furiously got into his car, making plans of how he was going to torture this insufferable Salvatore but first, he needed to deal with another Salvatore and his friend who seemed to have a wealth of information.

"I guess it's a good thing I decided to bring my bat on this lovely little vacation. Something told me I would be needing it," Kol said with a smirk as he got inside the car after dumping Damon's body in the back of the SUV.

"You mean something other than Damon Salvatore's address?" Rebekah asked as she took a seat behind him.

Kol smirked arrogantly from the seat and simply shrugged his shoulders innocently.

"This trip is already off to a great start wouldn't you all agree?" he said with that same smirk as he looked over at Klaus who rolled his eyes. "It's good to be home," he added with an evil smirk and dangerous glint in his eyes.

Klaus glanced at his three siblings and contemplated his brother's words. This was the first time all of them were back in Mystic Falls together in a very long time. As he drove down the empty road through the tiny town, he thought about the fact that the oldest and deadliest vampire family was back in town and its inhabitants were unaware, completely unprepared for what was in store for them.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Caroline paced around nervously in her kitchen. Elena had called earlier and said she was coming over and Caroline was anxious as to what that meeting was going to look like. As she thought about the confrontation that happened last night after Elena had caught her about to kiss Klaus, her mind drifted back to what had happened this morning and an involuntary shudder ran down her spine as she thought about the way he felt against her and how his mouth had pressed hot kisses against her lips and down her body. She tried to brush those memories aside, knowing she should not be thinking about that because it could not happen again. Especially since she had agreed to be around him for a year, she needed to have stronger self-control. That was another thing that worried her, how would Elena react to that bit of information?

As she was contemplating all these different thoughts, she heard the front door open. She hesitantly walked out of the kitchen to see Elena standing at the entryway of the living room, a serious expression on her face.

"What no Klaus today?" she asked bitterly.

"Elena-" she started but stopped when Elena raised her hand up and interrupted.

"Look Care, believe it or not I didn't come here to fight. I came here to talk about what happened last night and to finally know what the hell is going on," she said with an edge to her voice. Caroline could hear the underlying anger there as well.

"I'm really sorry you had to find out the way you did Elena, believe me that was not supposed to happen," Caroline said apologetically.

"Which part? The part where you almost kissed him or the part where I walked in?" Elena asked with that same edge to her voice.

Caroline rolled her eyes, beginning to grow impatient. She knew Elena had every right to be angry but if this was the attitude she was going to have through their entire conversation, they weren't going to be getting very far.

"I thought you said you didn't want to fight?" she asked as patiently as she could.

"I'm not fighting, just simply trying to find out the truth. What exactly happened between you and Klaus in the past Caroline?" she asked seriously, keeping her gaze locked on her.

Caroline let out a long sigh and looked away before answering.

"It's a long story Elena. It all happened the day we thought Katherine was on her deathbed. After Nadia kidnapped Matt and we went out to look for him, we all kind of split up and I ended up running into Klaus. We discussed some things and we ended up…you know…" she trailed off, her face feeling like it was on fire.

"So this happened all these years ago and you never told anyone?" Elena asked in a tone that conveyed both shock and outrage.

"I tried to tell you after it happened but it turns out I told Katherine instead and that turned into a total disaster," she explained with a shudder at the memory.

She eyed Elena anxiously.

"I can't believe this Care. I can't believe you would do something like this! How could you sleep with Klaus, our worst enemy?" Elena yelled angrily.

Caroline let out a long sigh of frustration fighting the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Can you try to understand where I'm coming from for one second? I know all of these things about Klaus, I know Elena and trust me when I say I wonder the same thing but I've also seen the good in him Elena-" she started but again stopped when she heard Elena let out a bitter laugh.

"The good in him? Care there's no good in him. He kills for sport and cares about no one," Elena said in voice laced with venom.

Caroline wanted to argue with her on this but Elena spoke again.

"I don't know what he's told you but he's not good Caroline and he doesn't care about you either. He tried to kill you twice simply to prove a point," she reminded her bitterly.

Caroline stood silently for a few moments, not sure what to say. She could try to make a case for him but she knew all the terrible things he had done could not be outweighed by the good deeds he had done at least not in Elena's eyes.

"I know it doesn't make much sense-" she started.

"Much sense?" Elena asked incredulously. "Let's try no sense."

Caroline sighed again, her patience beginning to grow thin.

"It may not make sense to you and it doesn't make sense all the time to me either but I can't ignore what I've seen in him Elena. I'm not saying I'm planning on marrying the guy but I've seen the humanity in him that he hides behind his rage and darkness. I've seen it and I know it must be really hard for you to believe but I know he's capable of caring for others and anyone who is capable of love is capable of being saved," she said firmly though inside she was shaking to her core and the tears were threatening to spill over from her eyes.

Elena looked at her incredulously, looking at her as if she thought she had lost her mind.

"How can you say that after all he's done?" she asked in a voice that almost sounded deadly. "How can you look at him and see a man worthy of being saved?"

Caroline looked at her and could see the anger brimming in her eyes along with betrayal. She knew that nothing she said would be getting through her so she told her the truth, the truth she hoped she would be able to relate to.

"The same way you look at Damon and see the same thing," she answered her through tears.

Elena let out a shocked gasp and stayed silent for a few minutes.

"Obviously it was a mistake coming here tonight," she said in a voice that was barely a whisper.

Caroline looked after her disappointedly as she turned around to leave and for a split second felt some of that disappointment dissipate when she saw her stop at the door.

"I haven't told anyone that Klaus is back but I won't keep your secret for long. Either you tell them or I will," she said in a voice that sounded empty.

Caroline saw as Elena opened the door but stopped in surprise when she saw a man she did not know standing right outside the entryway. She saw Elena instinctively take a step back as they both took in the strange man standing at her door. Caroline felt the goose bumps appear on her skin as she saw him turn to look at her with an evil glint in his eyes. Everything about this man screamed dangerous. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and dark hair that matched his dark eyes and dark clothing. There was something about his presence that made Caroline think he was not to be trifled with. He reminded her very much of Klaus in this way. He had an evil smile that made Caroline's skin crawl and his voice deeply unsettled her when he finally spoke.

"Good evening, I hate to intrude but I couldn't help and overhear your conversation," he started, slowly working his way closer to the door. "It was quite an invigorating conversation, particularly the bit about Klaus Mikaelson being back in town."

Elena turned to look back at Caroline, the panic written on both of their faces.

"Perhaps you lovely ladies would be so kind as to direct us as to where we could find him," he said in a low voice that carried menace in every syllable he spoke.

It was just then that Caroline noticed the other stranger standing not too far behind him and her panic grew. Who were these people and why would they come looking for her?

"Who are you?" she asked as steadily as she could.

"Pardon me how rude of me not to properly introduce myself. I am Felix and my friend here is Lucius. I would introduce you to the rest of my group but I'm afraid some are currently standing on the sides of your house waiting for my orders," he said with a blood curling smile. "Now darling, I suggest you give me the information I asked of you before I have to do this the hard way."

"I don't know where he is," Caroline said in a voice that came out a lot smaller and shakier than she intended it to.

"And what about you?" he asked Elena, the menace in his voice becoming more prominent.

She saw Elena slowly shake her head, her body completely tense.

"I haven't seen him," Elena answered in a shaky voice as well.

"Very well, hard way it is," he answered simply as he turned to look back at Lucius.

Elena quickly turned to look at her, panic in her eyes but neither one got to say or think of anything when they heard loud crashes come through the various windows throughout the house all simultaneously. They both ducked and tried to cover themselves as they let out a scream when they saw heavy objects that were lit being thrown inside. Caroline turned to look at Elena in complete panic. They were being burned out of the house with nowhere to run…

**Thanks for reading everyone! Sorry it took me a couple of weeks to update, I had an issue with my computer and ended up losing most of the work I had done and with classes at the uni and work, I've been kept pretty busy. I know this chapter didn't really have Klaroline but don't worry, next chapter we shall see more of these two as well as see other things unfold. Again, some things in this story diverge from what happened in TVD so hopefully you guys don't get too confused. Thanks again for reading everyone and sorry again for the delay!**


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